Some advise about coppice species please

[Chubbs]

Hi all, really appreciate your experience and advise here. I'm planning a 3/4 acre coppice for firewood and useable timber around the smallholding in West Wales SA44, I've chosen 8 species for diversity and resilience against disease; Sessile Oak 20%, Small leaved lime 15%, Sycamore 15%, Italian Alder 12.5%, Hornbeam 10%, Red Oak 10%, Grey Alder 10% and Sweet chestnut 7.5%

My main concern is the viability of Italian and Grey Alder for vigorous regrowth after being cut as there's very little information out there of which is contradictory. All the other species are supposed to coppice vigorously and are suitable for our site although maybe a little cool for chestnut, hence the low percentage.

The alders are attractive due to speed of growth along with N fixing but I will need all species to coppice well due to the limited area I have for the coppice.

 

Any help much appreciated

[spandit]

No willow or poplar?

 

Hazel coppices well

[Daniël Bos]

Don't know how the Italian reacts to coppicing, I planted ours for the columnar upright shape to function as windbreaks. I'd have thought they'd just put up massive amounts of twigs?

 

How about robinia, coppices well, burns superb, fixes nitro, and can be a superb timber when a bit bigger

 

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[Treeation]

Hi all, really appreciate your experience and advise here. I'm planning a 3/4 acre coppice for firewood and useable timber around the smallholding in West Wales SA44, I've chosen 8 species for diversity and resilience against disease; Sessile Oak 20%, Small leaved lime 15%, Sycamore 15%, Italian Alder 12.5%, Hornbeam 10%, Red Oak 10%, Grey Alder 10% and Sweet chestnut 7.5%

My main concern is the viability of Italian and Grey Alder for vigorous regrowth after being cut as there's very little information out there of which is contradictory. All the other species are supposed to coppice vigorously and are suitable for our site although maybe a little cool for chestnut, hence the low percentage.

The alders are attractive due to speed of growth along with N fixing but I will need all species to coppice well due to the limited area I have for the coppice.

 

Any help much appreciated

 

Not entirely sure about grey or italian poplar but if they are anything like common alder they should be fine which coppices well. I would try and speak to your local woodland officer working for the forestry commission and try contacting your local tree officer. I imagine there should be some research out there in relation to planting italian alders for future climate change. Good luck! Sounds like a good mixture you have going...I would advise planting in groups if you havent already thought so as trees grow better this way and easier to manage in the long term...I imagine you might get quite different growth rates though from such a mixture. I just coppiced a coup of hazel with a few sweet chestnut in there...the hazel grew 2ms in one year and pretty much every stool regenerated...only about 3 out ten sweet chestnuts came back and only put 1m of growth in a year.

[delabodge]

does ash not grow well there? are you by coastal winds?

[slack ma girdle]

If you you get coastal winds, then i would add sycamore, birch, and cypresses to the mix

[Duncansimpson]

I'd agree with above. Alder grows well and coppices well too. Good logs. Planting in groups is always best as they all rely on the same mycorrhizae and tend to do better. They also grow a similar speeds which is important. I've seen goat willow used to 'nurse' oaks into tall trees but it tended to swamp instead.

[Treeation]

does ash not grow well there? are you by coastal winds?

 

Personally, would of thought it wasnt a good idea considering ash because of Chalara fraxinea[/i (Ash dieback)

[SteveA]

If you look at the list of tree diseases you probably wouldn't want to plant anything. Have you considered AstroTurf?.... it's very easy to manage!

 

We're letting our ash regenerate throughout our woodland wherever it wants and if 2% survive that's not great, but also fine.

 

cheers, steve

 

p.s.... we planted a bunch of robinia whips and they all died. Although I did plant them in a silly place where they had way too much water. Supposed to be a good replacement for sweet chestnut (for when they get ravaged by umpteen globalisation climate change too many humans polluting the planet bug munching diseases).

Edited December 8, 2016 by SteveA

[john k]

Hi all, really appreciate your experience and advise here. I'm planning a 3/4 acre coppice for firewood and useable timber around the smallholding in West Wales SA44

 

I'm assuming that this is 0.75 acre not "3 or 4" acres? If so that's a very small area for any sort of useful coppice rotation. Have you thought about how you intend to manage it? If you cut 1/4 acre every 5 years that would still only be a 15 year rotation which is pretty small for firewood. Smaller coupes may struggle because of shading from neighbouring trees.

 

What do you have in mind when you talk about "usable timber"? That is likely to have an impact on species and management decisions, and you may decide that it's not actually realistic to combine with coppicing in these circumstances.

 

I've chosen 8 species for diversity and resilience against disease; Sessile Oak 20%, Small leaved lime 15%, Sycamore 15%, Italian Alder 12.5%, Hornbeam 10%, Red Oak 10%, Grey Alder 10% and Sweet chestnut 7.5%

 

The biggest problem with mixed coppice is the difference in growth rates between species as the more vigorous ones will shade out the slower growing trees. I'd take out the oaks as they just won't keep up. Hornbeam is pretty slow too, but is shade bearing so will survive - the trouble is it will be much smaller than the others when you come to harvest them.

 

What's the soil type? What grows well in the surrounding area?

 

My main concern is the viability of Italian and Grey Alder for vigorous regrowth after being cut as there's very little information out there of which is contradictory.

 

"The Silviculture of Trees used in British Forestry" by Peter Savill is a handy read if you can get hold of a copy, and says that Italian Alder coppices variably if at all. Grey Alder coppices much the same as Common Alder.

 

If you want to maximise the amount of firewood then another option would be to go with Ecualyptus as the growth rate is astounding. Most species coppice well, and some are frost tolerant too.

 

A different approach would be to plant blocks of similarly performing species and successively thin them rather than coppicing. Goat willow and birch will grow like weeds and could be worthwhile including if you'd be happy using them as firewood.