Stumpy tree for coppicing

[Mr. Ed]

Morning all

 

I have a question that sounds a little stupid, and may indeed be so. Be kind to me - I am a beginner. We have a bit of steep land which was planted with sycamore (yes I know) about 20 years ago and then had a power cable run over it. So every n years (we have only been here a year) the electric company sends down some amiable tree surgeons who knock everything down. What they cut down is so skinny that it doesn’t even seem worth gathering. Can anyone think of a tree for this sort of coppicing that will grow short and thick and therefore need less regular knocking down, and when knocked down would have the potential to provide some firewood, or have a particular environmental value?

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas. 

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, Mr. Ed said:

 Can anyone think of a tree for this sort of coppicing that will grow short and thick and therefore need less regular knocking down, and when knocked down would have the potential to provide some firewood, or have a particular environmental value?

 

The thing about coppicing is that the stool reacts by mobilising lots of adventitious shoots that then compete with each other for light, they grow tall and thin. These long slender shoots would be cut on a regular  cycle because they lent themselves to being split and weaved for baskets, crates, wattle etc. Any left overs would be gathered into bundles to make firewood, faggots and bavins.

 

So the yield of biomass from the stool is divided between the collection of sprouts. If you were to select one stem by cutting out the rest it would have a head start on further adventitious growth and more of the yield would be concentrated on that stem, this is called storing the coppice stool. it probably shortens the life of the stool for most species.

 

The yield on any site will vary with species with willow, poplar and eucalyptus being higher yielders than hazel the victorian traditional shortish cycle (7 years) coppice species whereas hornbeam beech and oak would be cut on longer cycles of up to 35 years.

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

The thing about coppicing is that the stool reacts by mobilising lots of adventitious shoots that then compete with each other for light, they grow tall and thin. These long slender shoots would be cut on a regular  cycle because they lent themselves to being split and weaved for baskets, crates, wattle etc. Any left overs would be gathered into bundles to make firewood, faggots and bavins.

 

So the yield of biomass from the stool is divided between the collection of sprouts. If you were to select one stem by cutting out the rest it would have a head start on further adventitious growth and more of the yield would be concentrated on that stem, this is called storing the coppice stool. it probably shortens the life of the stool for most species.

 

The yield on any site will vary with species with willow, poplar and eucalyptus being higher yielders than hazel the victorian traditional shortish cycle (7 years) coppice species whereas hornbeam beech and oak would be cut on longer cycles of up to 35 years.

And there we have it . ?

[Mr. Ed]

Thank you guys. I now have the modest ambition to sneak the lovely word "adventitious" into everyday conversation!

Hornbeam sounds interesting. I'm going to have to check the height limit that the Electrick Company specify: photos from the webnet seem to show a tree with a not terribly tall habit, which would be useful.

 

 

[drinksloe]

I think most electric companies work a 5 year rolling cycle, and have to check the whole system and it it back every 5 years.

 

Really u might be as well ripping them out and planting some fruit bushes or making it into a garden/veg garden.

 

The contracts for power lines is always changing too so no guarantee all the contractors would actually coppice the tree some might cut stem at base to save doing it next time.

 

Any native tree that handles coppicing will have more ecological benefits than sycamore or turn it into a wild flower/butterfly strip?

[Mr. Ed]

I will get on to the electric company and find out what their cycle is. A meadow sounds nice but I fear it would be a bramble meadow within months. Sadly the land is too steep, too far from the house, and too north facing for veggie patch. Dwarf trees is what we need... I should have said we’re in SW Ireland so the choice of natives is a little more constrained than in the UK.

[Rough Hewn]

Dwarf root stock orchard.
[emoji106]

[Mr. Ed]

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

Dwarf root stock orchard.

That’s a lovely idea - would it work on a steep north facing valley side? This photo gives an idea of the landscape - it gets steeper at the top. We’ve been looking at Service and Spindles

Edited November 25, 2020 by Mr. Ed

[Rough Hewn]

That’s a lovely idea - would it work on a steep north facing valley side? This photo gives an idea of the landscape - it gets steeper at the top  

Yes, but you’d need to do a lot of work first.
Get the soil tested, find out seasonal temperature variations etc.
Then using that information to choose suitable species.
Maybe consider mixing in some native lower canopy species like hazel,holly and yew just to give a bit of shelter and food for local wildlife?
Sounds like a fun project.
[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, Mr. Ed said:

I will get on to the electric company and find out what their cycle is

In UK the DNO does not have to have contractors in, they can pay the land owner to do the work. Obviously they have H&S concerns but routine coppicing when the tips are outside the vicinity zone of the lines should be little danger.