Managing Ash Re-Growth from Stump

[aesmith]

Hi,

A number of Ash trees were felled on our ground some years before we moved here.  I have no idea why, other maybe that a couple would have been uncomfortably close to the house.   Now pretty much all the stumps are regrowing in some cases quite vigorously.    In many cases I'd be quite happy for this to develop into a new Ash tree, and I'm not sure whether I should be doing anything with these trees or should just leave them to develop however they turn out.  Is there any benefit in thinning out the smaller stems for example, or reducing down to just one?  I have a concern that the main mass of the stump is essentially dead, and whether that could mean that the new stems are weakened where they join it.

 

Thanks, Tony S

[AHPP]

Google coppicing.

[Mark Wileman]

Letting stump regrowth grow without control will most likely cause the new stems to fail at some point. Unfortunately I don't think they are ever going to look like a typical Ash tree again.

There is a sycamore woodland down the road from me and it was once a managed coppice, I've estimated that the last cut was 30-40 years ago and now 90% of the trees have one or more failed (fallen over) stems.

[spandit]

Tried it with a coppiced willow - stem fell over and now it's a sprawling bush again

[Stubby]

I did it successfully with a Robina  ( false Acacia ) Felled it and left the stump . It sprouted  from the stump with multiple shoots as a coppice would . I selected the thickest , strongest shoot . retained that and periodically removed any others . It became a tree again , almost as large as the one I felled . Had to remove it in the end as I was going to block pave the area .

[openspaceman]

Storing coppice (selecting one stem and removing the rest) was a common method of reverting to high forest when coppice markets faded.

 

I also stored some  beech coppice which was 90 years old (about 3 times the age of a traditional rotation) as beech of that age will seldom regrow and in an attempt to get them to sawlog sizes.

 

Problem was the 1987 storm...

[aesmith]

Thanks for all the comments.  Some of the stumps are in places where I simply don't want a full size ash, either too near the house or because I'm planting beech which I hope will replace the Ash in due course.   I might have a try at managing the coppicing in one or more places.  I need to have a proper look at how they're doing so far.