Coppicing hazel.

[openspaceman]

38 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

Coup?

The term for the area of coppice felled, similarly cant.

[AHPP]

Also an excellent card game.

[Dan Maynard]

One idea in the wildlife trust is to leave a few stems and then bend those and peg them down to try to layer new stools. Doesn't always work but if you get a few they are free.

I've read it's the grey squirrels taking the nuts before they are old enough to be viable which is meaning you hardly get hazel growing from seed any more, so good idea to layer if you can.

[openspaceman]

20 minutes ago, Dan Maynard said:

One idea in the wildlife trust is to leave a few stems and then bend those and peg them down to try to layer new stools. Doesn't always work but if you get a few they are free.

 The coppice bloke I knew would leave a sunshoot and  step on the joint with the main stool to split it away at ground level, he would peg this. I never got the opportunity to return to the site and see if the layer had taken.

20 minutes ago, Dan Maynard said:

I've read it's the grey squirrels taking the nuts before they are old enough to be viable which is meaning you hardly get hazel growing from seed any more, so good idea to layer if you can.

Yes this is what I was told, their taste is more catholic than native beasts. This is probably a reason why dormice are in trouble as they will only take ripe nuts.

[Guest Gimlet]

I've had to do selective cutting like that on a stand of hazel coppice. It's on a SSSI site and NE won't let me coppice the stools to the ground because it will "destroy dormouse habitat" (yeah, I know. Don't get me started). They don't seem tp understand that I wouldn't cut the whole area in one go, but work coups on a seven year cycle. But they won't have it. The hazel is extremely overstood. Probably hasn't been properly worked for 50 years. Many of the stools are dying of old age. So I've been going round cherry-picking suitable stems for hedgelaying stakes and binders, leaving all the young growth and then taking out all dead wood and about 30% of the oldest stems. That is all they'll let me get away with.

 

It's not a commercially viable way to coppice but as the material is for my own use not resale, provided I can harvest at least £150 worth of material for a day's work it's worth doing and hopefully it will at least keep the stools alive until wiser counsels prevail at Natural England.

 

Whether the amount of regrowth I'm promoting is sufficient to regenerate the stool only time will tell. I believe some are beyond the point of no return and should have been cut years ago if the area hadn't been pickled in aspic by NE. I've noticed that some of the very large stems which were alive when I trimmed them out have not produced any new growth around the cut which doesn't bode well. And this lack of growth tends to be on those very old stools are more or less fused into one huge mass at ground level so I think it's questionable whether they would now survive full regen cutting. It's an object lesson in the cost of neglecting hazel coppice and it's scandalous that a quango like NE with the power to dictate to landowners are so ignorant of the correct management of this habitat.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Gimlet

[coppice cutter]

Is it possible that the point Alec made is coming in to play and the cut

1 hour ago, Gimlet said:

 I've noticed that some of the very large stems which were alive when I trimmed them out have not produced any new growth around the cut which doesn't bode well.

Is it possible that Alec's point is relevant here and they are being shaded by the stems which remain uncut?

 

Just a thought.

 

[Guest Gimlet]

Possibly. It can't help. But in the same environment less aged stools are producing growth where the very old ones are not, which makes me wonder if there is a point of no return. 

[woody paul]

10 hours ago, Gimlet said:

Possibly. It can't help. But in the same environment less aged stools are producing growth where the very old ones are not, which makes me wonder if there is a point of no return. 

About 18 years ago I was involved in the coppice of old Hazel over 12 inches across which was going to be managed on a regular basis, it wasn't and is now got stems 9-12 inches across. It did take time to get going though. 

Edited March 20, 2021 by woody paul

[Rough Hewn]

Is it possible that the point Alec made is coming in to play and the cut
Is it possible that Alec's point is relevant here and they are being shaded by the stems which remain uncut?
 
Just a thought.
 

Unlikely, as hazel is a lower under storey and can live with low light levels.
More likely is the tree will put the energy in to existing leaders.
Hence you cut the whole tree in one go.

Also I can’t remember exactly...
But an old boy told me once something about overstood hazel.
He said after cutting, the next crop would only be suitable for charcoal.
It’s the second crop which would have useful products.
🤷🏽‍♂️

[Stere]

I think its a bad idea compared to the traditional way for both ecology and firwood.

 

Think a 20 yr cycle of  clear fell of the hazel in certain areas would produce  more firewood longterm,  & be better for the health of the hazel stools   than selectively cutting sticks. Extraction would be easier.

 

If the site is big enough you could divide into several coupes. How big is the area?.

 

 

 

The coppice cut cycle is very good for habitiat diversity and any dormant seebank coppice ground flora species

 

 

 

As for the shade torelance of  hazel, hazel  with standards coppice recommends  15% - 30% max canopy cover. Hazel will survive with more shade but isn't a very productive under shade.

 

Shaded hazel tends to just be stuck in statis  with a few large stems and a load of sun shoots. Growth rings will be very narrow.

 

 

 

Also the species of  any trees as standards, if there are any,  makes a big difference as some trees have denser canopy tham others etc sycamores will cast more shade than ash or birch...

 

Quote

But an old boy told me once something about overstood hazel.
He said after cutting, the next crop would only be suitable for charcoal.
It’s the second crop which would have useful products.

 

Heard the same about overstood hazel .  Also heard the silver bark ones are better quality than the brown bark type.

 

Did read that there was a standard traditional size for the area of a cant or coupe but can't find the info now.

 

 

Some info on coppice grades:

 

A GUIDE TO HAZEL COPPICE ASSESSMENT

WWW.SSCOPPICEGROUP.CO.UK

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A GUIDE TO HAZEL COPPICE ASSESSMENT By Jonathan Howe The following notes are meant as a beginners guide to...

 

Restoring neglected coppice infos:

 

https://ptes.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Restoration-of-neglected-hazel-coppice.pdf

 

 

Edited March 20, 2021 by Stere