coppice experiment

cannotdisplay · 17-11-2013 1:08pm #1

Last year I planted 1150 trees for a good friend with a view to firewood production through coppicing.
Trees were
400 birch
100 ash
400 sycamore
250 alder
These were planted in 2m wide rows at a spacing of .75m. They were planted in april into good sheltered fertile ground. The survival has been very good with only about 40 trees dead.

Sycamore are about 1-1.2m high
Alder is .5-1m
Ash is .7-1m
Birch is .3-.7m

we think we might fit in 40 -50 sweet chesnut as replacement trees this winter for a bit of variety.

So what im wondering is
Has anyone experience of cutting the trees in the first year to the ground (within 2 or 3 inches)
Basically the theory is cut now and allow new shoots to increase competition and shade out grass

Iv read that alder might be best left til 6 or 8 years before initial coppice. My own small amount of experience with birch is it may not coppice well if cut so young.
Im not as concerned about the sycamore or ash as I think they will throw out new shoots without a problem

Im not interested in opinions on willow as we already have the whole area planted.

bbam · 17-11-2013 1:22pm

cannotdisplay wrote: »

Last year I planted 1150 trees for a good friend with a view to firewood production through coppicing.
Trees were
400 birch
100 ash
400 sycamore
250 alder
These were planted in 2m wide rows at a spacing of .75m. They were planted in april into good sheltered fertile ground. The survival has been very good with only about 40 trees dead.

Sycamore are about 1-1.2m high
Alder is .5-1m
Ash is .7-1m
Birch is .3-.7m

we think we might fit in 40 -50 sweet chesnut as replacement trees this winter for a bit of variety.

So what im wondering is
Has anyone experience of cutting the trees in the first year to the ground (within 2 or 3 inches)
Basically the theory is cut now and allow new shoots to increase competition and shade out grass

Iv read that alder might be best left til 6 or 8 years before initial coppice. My own small amount of experience with birch is it may not coppice well if cut so young.
Im not as concerned about the sycamore or ash as I think they will throw out new shoots without a problem

Im not interested in opinions on willow as we already have the whole area planted.

We're doing a bit of ground at the rear of the house with willow.. Our ground isnt great and we found that coppicing at the end of the second year works better..
We're working to create a wind break and screen off a "secret garden" at the rear of the plot... And of course at some stage harvest some wood for the stove... Although that's 10+ years away. Starting with much fewer plants.. Its working OK, but our high exposure and poor soil are a definite disadvantage.

periodictable · 17-11-2013 10:11pm

Of the trees you mentioned, coppice nothing for a number of years. The trees need to make an extensive root system and develop a thick enough stem to produce the stem buds which will become shoots.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/publications.nsf/WebpubsbyISBN/085538591X

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/Rin259.pdf/$file/Rin259.pdf

Oldtree · 17-11-2013 10:20pm

Whatever you do make sure that there is no grass leaning on the young stems as if there is a heavy snow fall, the weight can then break the stems. I just walk around and stomp down the grass around each tree.