Maybe the UK should plant more....

[devon TWiG]

look at the price of Leylandii plants !!   very  costly compared to other conifers ....they are rot resistant though , but so are western red cedar , Monterey cypress is another great timber but can you imagine the response of devout ecomentalists if you planted a big wood of Leylandii !!!?   Also any planting for timber is very long term , so few are willing to guess future markets so stick with tried and tested specimens ...Douglas fir , Sitka spruce etc etc .....

[Squaredy]

8 minutes ago, nepia said:

Well I thought you gave the reason in your original post - under valued!  But as you ask...  Field Maple is far from common enough as one of our native species, being hugely outnumbered by damned foreigners!.  It's a lovely tree to look at.  The timber of a mature specimen is awesome - such swirling grain and often pippy too.  I believe it does, or at least can, form the food for many larvae.  And it's adaptable; it makes a fine hedge as well as a stand alone tree.  I took a line of unnecessarily tall ones in my own garden (~18') down to 5' years ago and now enjoy an 8' hedge.

 

Your choice of Leyland is interesting - and enlightened.  The trees aren't wrong, it's their management that goes awry.  A mature specimen in its own space is a graceful thing.  I bow to your knowledge on the timber for functional use, I like it to burn.

 

I'll get you a pic of the Caterham cedar next time I'm passing.  I can walk to it in 15 minutes.  What was your experience of it?

 

 

Jon

I am very ignorant of the Field Maple so your comments are interesting.  I have no idea why I never get offered them.  Once had a sugar maple from a tree surgeon, but out of maybe 2000 tons of local logs milled in the last 12 years not one Field Maple.

 

I am from Kenley, so I used to go to Caterham a lot for lots of reasons, and always loved the Cedar by the road.  Haven't seen it for maybe 30 years.

[Stubby]

9 hours ago, Squaredy said:

I am very ignorant of the Field Maple so your comments are interesting.  I have no idea why I never get offered them.  Once had a sugar maple from a tree surgeon, but out of maybe 2000 tons of local logs milled in the last 12 years not one Field Maple.

 

I am from Kenley, so I used to go to Caterham a lot for lots of reasons, and always loved the Cedar by the road.  Haven't seen it for maybe 30 years.

Field Maple was used in furniture making and some musical  instruments in the past but it is very slow growing and this factor made it loos its popularity as a commercial wood .

[nepia]

2 minutes ago, Stubby said:

 it is very slow growing 

Not when you pollard it into a hedge it isn't!

[Stubby]

1 minute ago, nepia said:

Not when you pollard it into a hedge it isn't!

But then you don't get the timber lengths ?

[nepia]

Squaredy, I'll try and replicate that cedar pic for you.

[Paul in the woods]

15 hours ago, Squaredy said:

I will kick it off with Walnut, and Leylandii (or indeed other cypresses).

Is there a variety of walnut that is hardy enough for the UK? I have a few walnuts in my woodland, planted by the previous owner, and most springs they get damaged by frost. This year virtually all the fresh leaves have been killed off.

 

Obviously walnuts do grow but can you guarantee a good crop in the uk compared to say France or further south?

[Khriss]

@Squaredy   Noooo to Leylandii ! Thrice no.  But W. Red and probly Poplar hybrids fr cash. Bio Diversity is also important so, F.Maple,  Oak various and Sorbus variants,  K

[Squaredy]

25 minutes ago, nepia said:

Squaredy, I'll try and replicate that cedar pic for you.

Thanks Nepia, cool.

[Squaredy]

14 minutes ago, Khriss said:

Noooo to Leylandii ! Thrice no

But why?  I admit it sounds like a boring plantation, but any more than Spruce?  And far more useful timber I would venture.