Growing sweet chestnut coppice in Ireland

dan462

Hi,

I'm looking into replanting approximately 12 acres of ash that needs to be felled due to dieback. I'd love to try to grow sweet chestnut coppice with oak standards. I'd be very keen to know if anyone is aware of anybody successfully growing sweet chestnut in Ireland as I'd like to try and figure out my chances of success on the site I have. It's a well drained, south facing slope on fertile soil in the midlands.

I'm aware that sweet chestnut is very rare in Ireland, but am eager to learn if it's possible as it's such a promising tree for green woodworking and coppicing, especially since ash has been decimated.

Any info or leads I could follow up would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot

timfromtang

A man with a plan, who would have thought!

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What markets do you have in mind for the sweet chestnut poles your coppice will produce?

I'd imagine a nut yield might be difficult to achieve since we are so far north, but with the right site and microclimate maybe?

Where abroad is sweet chestnut currently grown in coppice? what are their markets, yields, etc,

there are some areas of sweet chestnut coppice remaining on the island just to the east of us, where the poles produced are used for cleft wirebound fencing, and either cleft or sawn fence posts. The delicious roasted sweet chestnuts that you can buy on the streets of London come from France Portugal Spain etc.

I'd be careful If I were establishing a coppice like this with a non native species as a large component, since less of the species that would normally co-exist/co-depend on the chestnut trees would be present in the Irish environment, and less of our native species that fill similar niches on native irish species will be able to live with the sweet chestnut. To mitigate this I would include a large and diverse component of native irish plants and trees. Hazel for example could be intimately mixed in the coppice and would produce value both in monetary terms and ecosystem services.

best of luck with your work

tim

Thud

There's a few acres of sweet chestnut planted near Moneystown in Wicklow which is probably about 200m above sea level. There are a few trees near Laragh and Newtownmountkennedy too.

I haven't looked at the wood in much detail bit they are well established trees.

The nuts vary depending on the summer, this year we're very small (peanut sized) two years ago they were a bit bigger (large hazelnut) but smaller than the type they sell in shops

dan462

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118366108#Comment_118366108

Hi Tim! Good to hear from you! Sorry for my late reply. haven't been logged on in a while.

I don't think a market exists currently for the sweet chestnut poles in Ireland. But I think there's a lot of potential to create the market. I would like to be able to carry out some green woodworking myself on site in 7 to 10 years when they would be ready for it. I'm a big fan of Ben Law's work. I would be envisaging products similar to the coppice products coming out of places like his in the south of England currently (cleft post and rail fencing, cleft wire fencing, rustic furniture etc.).

You make good points about making sure to include a good mixture of native trees. My current plan is to create two distinct patches on the site. Approximately 9 acres of sweet chestnut coppice with oak and birch mixed throughout as a standard crop to be maintained while the sweet chestnut is coppiced.

The other 3 acres I would propose to consist of mainly hazel for coppicing, with oak and birch mixed throughout as a standard crop too.

The reason I would like to keep these sections separate is that they would be cut on different rotations.

I wouldn't be planning to get much of a yield on the nuts. If a few happen to form that'd be a happy bonus. It's the quality timber for green woodworking I'm more interested in!

Thanks for the advice as always, Tim! Will give you a shout when I'm back from Finland next! :-D

dan462

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118498797#Comment_118498797

Thanks a lot for that, Thud! Much appreciated.

Would you happen to have any directions I could follow to get to that few acres of sweet chestnut near Moneystown? Or a google map link to the spot. I'd love to go and take a look at the trees and it'd be great to talk to the owners too to get their insights! Do you know who owns the site? I've yet to find anybody with a significant amount of sweet chestnut in Ireland.

Thanks a lot!

Dan

Thud

I've sent you a PM Dan

Melodeon

There used to be quite a fine stand of mature Sweet Chestnut in the grounds of Vernon Mount House, just outside Cork city.

It's a couple of decades since I've been there though, so I've no idea if it's still there.

There's been a lot of development all around the site, and the whole place was subject to a lot of anti-social behaviour over the years. The house was burned down a few years ago, you may remember: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40740393.html

Sweet Chestnut is dying all over Europe and the UK due to a blight, and there's a voluntary ban om importation to Ireland.

With over 25 new diseases introduced here since 2000, I'd say to steer wee clear of it.

https://forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/pest-and-disease-resources/sweet-chestnut-blight-cryphonectria-parasitica/