Fast growing willow for firewood

17-08-2012 11:58am

I just stuck the willow shoots straight into the ground, about 6" in with about 4" sticking up,

I also stuck a lot of full length (3-4 foot long) shoots in as well but it didn't really make much difference to the growing, it just meant that I used more for the same area. Next time I'll just cut the shoots into one foot lengths and stick it in!

I robbed all my willow stock from local trees at zero cost.

There don't appear to be many rabbits around here, so I can't comment on rabbit problems.

vicwatson · 17-08-2012 12:03pm

dordali wrote: »

Have an acre of land behind a site we're about to start building on. Thinking of planting fast growing willow or some other fast growing tree for firewood, for use in the house. We can order it from UK e.g http://www.bowhayesfarm.co.uk.
Anyone know of availability in Ireland. Or not sure if it is a good idea, advice?

Link is broken?

17-08-2012 12:14pm

vicwatson wrote: »

Link is broken?

Post is six years old!

El Kabong! · 17-08-2012 12:19pm

http://www.bowhayestrees.co.uk/

frankmul · 27-08-2012 1:09pm

I'm thinking of growing a small section of willow. Maybe 5m x 50m, 200 plants. I have got the ground cover i think. Would someone be able to tell me what variety of willow I should use and where I might get it. I'm in Roscommon.

27-08-2012 1:37pm

frankmul wrote: »

I'm thinking of growing a small section of willow. Maybe 5m x 50m, 200 plants. I have got the ground cover i think. Would someone be able to tell me what variety of willow I should use and where I might get it. I'm in Roscommon.

Look around in the local hedgerows, find some good fast growing willow, the type with the long thin leaves appear to be the best, and make a note of the location.

Then wait until early January before cutting enough stems approx 10mm in diameter to cover the area, 200 30cm lengths should do you.

frankmul · 27-08-2012 3:37pm

dolanbaker wrote: »

frankmul wrote: »

I'm thinking of growing a small section of willow. Maybe 5m x 50m, 200 plants. I have got the ground cover i think. Would someone be able to tell me what variety of willow I should use and where I might get it. I'm in Roscommon.

Look around in the local hedgerows, find some good fast growing willow, the type with the long thin leaves appear to be the best, and make a note of the location.

Then wait until early January before cutting enough stems approx 10mm in diameter to cover the area, 200 30cm lengths should do you.

thanks dolanbaker

type does not really matter then. from what i remember, there is some weeping willow near by. just take cuttings from that and I'll be ok?.
Frank

27-08-2012 5:14pm

frankmul wrote: »

thanks dolanbaker

type does not really matter then. from what i remember, there is some weeping willow near by. just take cuttings from that and I'll be ok?.
Frank

Not a weeping willow, they're the slowest growing ones, look for the ones that "awake".

frankmul · 28-08-2012 11:00am

There is a willow around that appears to be one that's awake, about 5ft growth this year. Bay willow I think. Do I need rabbit protection. Not a lot of rabbits around but plenty of hares. Will they destroy the plants?.

28-08-2012 11:34am

frankmul wrote: »

There is a willow around that appears to be one that's awake, about 5ft growth this year. Bay willow I think. Do I need rabbit protection. Not a lot of rabbits around but plenty of hares. Will they destroy the plants?.

Apparently, rabbits love the stuff, chances are hares do as well so better to play safe.

frankmul · 28-08-2012 11:48am

El Kabong! wrote: »

I also ordered 500 canes and 500 transparent spiral guards via an Irish supplier. They had a good price and sourced the spirals for me. I ordered black ones by mistake so had to order again, but I can use the black ones for when I start planting native trees.

El Kabong

Can you pm me, where you got the spiral guards

Thanks
Frank

El Kabong! · 03-09-2012 4:13pm

No problem sharing it with everyone... I managed to get www.thegardenshop.ie to source in the transparent ones for me.

They got in a load of them and still seem to have loads of stock left:

http://www.thegardenshop.ie/tree-guards.html

I also ordered bamboo canes from them.

http://www.thegardenshop.ie/bamboo-canes.html

So 1 cane and 1 spiral, with the willow 1 foot into the ground (if possible).

10-10-20 · 06-09-2012 10:05pm

Another guide for you gents - the Teagasc 2010 SRC Willow best practices:

http://www.seai.ie/Renewables/Bioenergy/Willow_Best_Practice_Guide_2010.pdf

After reading all of this, I wish I had land to grow the stuff on now...

Oh - and a second guide from Teagasc - Willow Fact Sheet:

http://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2010/859/859_Willow.pdf

El Kabong! · 07-09-2012 3:22pm

That is very useful, thanks.

I am rethinking my approach now. I was going to cut my 1 year old willow rods into 3, and then plant up 3 times the area, so I would have 1 acre. Using cuttings would save me money but now I am worried that I would be leaving myself open to disease problems.

I think I will just stump and order another .25 acre/500 setts in a mix, and then next year, plant up the remaining .5 acre with the cuttings from that.

If only I knew about mixing last season.... oh well you live and learn.

07-09-2012 8:32pm

I got round that issue by picking different types from around the area, unfortunately I included a lot of slow growers in the mix

, so i will replace most of those this winter.

staff1986 · 13-12-2012 8:51pm

im thinking of getting in on the renewable wood burning scene. i have a little over an acre around the back of the house. at the moment it is left to the wild, covered in long grass really for the past 5years. it used to be used for growing corn. my question is this: would i need to clear out the grass around the area i plan to grow the trees?

I would rather keep the field the way it is in terms of grass cover because of any wildlife that may be living in there.

10-10-20 · 13-12-2012 10:13pm

Pretty much yes, you need to provide light so not to smother the early shoots.
But you could create a meadow instead. Loads of guides online.

El Kabong! · 13-12-2012 10:37pm

Hi,

The field I got was pretty much unused for 4-5 years. Quite heavy grass. I cut it all back as it would crowd out the young shoots.
Once the willow has established it will crowd out the undergrowth itself.

staff1986 · 09-01-2013 11:23pm

thanks for info. will hopefully b under way feb / march

daisymac · 03-02-2013 10:01pm

Thanks for the useful factsheets on willow growing. We are trying to get a plantation growing during our self-build so that its at least established when we move in. Lots of willow in the hedges around the site, so will hopefully use whats there.
Any hints on which ones are the slow growerrs would be great, dolanbaker!
Another question - is willow only useful as woodchip? Or does it get big enough for use in a log boiler?

03-02-2013 11:55pm

Re: Slow growers, it appears that the rounder the leaf, the slower it grows, not very scientific, but just based on observations. There are a lot of hybrids out there.

paddy147 · 05-02-2013 1:20am

Wouldnt you need to let the willow season though??

As let is season dry when you have cut it up for firewood so it has a low moisture content and is good to burn?????.

daisymac · 05-02-2013 12:43pm

Yes paddy - between growing and seasoning, we are presuming it will be at least 5 years before we have anything for the boiler! (are we right?)
Luckily we have some supply for the meantime, but willow is certainly one of things things that needs forward planning

09-04-2014 7:28pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I got round that issue by picking different types from around the area, unfortunately I included a lot of slow growers in the mix , so i will replace most of those this winter.

Just to follow up on this thread;

I planted a lot of short "sticks" last year (Jan 2013), but the weather was so bad that almost all of it failed to grow!

This year I tried again but this time using longer sticks and it has really taken off, so I am hoping to be able to start coppicing this winter coming.

I plan to divide the field into four "years" and coppice one section each year.

Oldtree · 10-04-2014 10:36am

was probably the slugs eating the small leaves as the buds burst, I had the same problem with small cuttings.

Smeeeeeee · 21-06-2017 8:34am

Hi,

I've started growing willow for logs in Wicklow and am documenting progress in a blog. It can be accessed here:

willowforlogs.blogspot.com

Hope is of some use to folk!

mjv2ydratu679c · 21-06-2017 9:22am

Smeeeeeee wrote: »

Hi,

I've started growing willow for logs in Wicklow and am documenting progress in a blog. It can be accessed here:

willowforlogs.blogspot.com

Hope is of some use to folk!

Great blog. Could you put up a guide to the costs involved?

Smeeeeeee · 21-06-2017 1:00pm

Thanks!!

Good question about costs. So far 200 x 3ft whips cost me Stg?268 delivered to Wicklow.

I've applied weed killer twice (once before planting and once after at a cost of approx. €5.

I manufactured a spike to make the initial holes, if someone had to pay to get one made, I'd guess at €30?

And that's it apart from my time to plant, kill weeds and strip buds.

I plan to use offcuts from the first coppice to plant the next year, and repeat for 5-6 years until the first 200 are ready to harvest.

I'll add a post on costs to the blog later.

Cheers

Tim

mjv2ydratu679c · 21-06-2017 1:05pm

Smeeeeeee wrote: »

Thanks!!

Good question about costs. So far 200 x 3ft whips cost me Stg?268 delivered to Wicklow.

I've applied weed killer twice (once before planting and once after at a cost of approx. €5.

I manufactured a spike to make the initial holes, if someone had to pay to get one made, I'd guess at €30?

And that's it apart from my time to plant, kill weeds and strip buds.

I plan to use offcuts from the first coppice to plant the next year, and repeat for 5-6 years until the first 200 are ready to harvest.

I'll add a post on costs to the blog later.

Cheers

Tim

Great stuff - were the rabbit protectors expensive?

Smeeeeeee · 21-06-2017 1:13pm

Well spotted!! 100 cost €27 on ebay so €54 total for 200.

Fast growing willow for firewood

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