Let’s hear it for cypress/leylandii timber

[5thelement]

They are a tad over 90’ and all but the edge trees have self suppressed their lower branches up to around 50’.

[Squaredy]

41 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

They are a tad over 90’ and all but the edge trees have self suppressed their lower branches up to around 50’.

Sadly whoever owns them will find that when they come to harvest/thin next they will have a rather low value.  Yet the timber shares so many of the qualities of western red cedar which currently is worth more than oak.

[Squaredy]

43 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

They are a tad over 90’ and all but the edge trees have self suppressed their lower branches up to around 50’.

And as they are infertile when they are eventually felled they will leave no trace.  Unlike most conifers which will leave their children and grandchildren etc.

[5thelement]

19 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Sadly whoever owns them will find that when they come to harvest/thin next they will have a rather low value.  Yet the timber shares so many of the qualities of western red cedar which currently is worth more than oak.

Thankfully there are a still a few small local sawmills that would snap them up if they ever decided to fell any.
The Lawsons Cypress I thinned a few years back was of excellent quality and considerably older, most of the sawlog stayed local or used on site. 

[Squaredy]

1 hour ago, 5thelement said:

Thankfully there are a still a few small local sawmills that would snap them up if they ever decided to fell any.
The Lawsons Cypress I thinned a few years back was of excellent quality and considerably older, most of the sawlog stayed local or used on site. 

Well that is good.  I doubt the industry as a whole realise how good cypress are.  I think it was such a bad decision to call western red cedar a cedar when it is in fact a cypress.  
 

Does anyone know what softwoods are favoured these days now that Larch is so problematic?  Douglas Fir is great of course but what else do we plant with natural durability?

Edited December 9, 2022 by Squaredy

[5thelement]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

Well that is good.  I doubt the industry as a whole realise how good cypress are.  I think it was such a bad decision to call western red cedar a cedar when it is in fact a cypress.  
 

Does anyone know what softwoods are favoured these days now that Larch is so problematic?  Douglas Fir is great of course but what else do we plant with natural durability?

Douglas is certainly favoured in the UK and even more so here in France.

I have felled a lot of Cryptomeria japonica in the East/West Sussex, underrated and underused, a stunning timber with incredible colour and smell, even the light sap band is durable.

[Conor Wright]

Interesting thread. I just purchased a small plot of failed ash and want to replant with something unusual. I've often thought about planting leylandii. I think I'll mix the few acres with wrc and leylandii. Might be a few quid in my retirement years.

[Stere]

Quote

And as they are infertile when they are eventually felled they will leave no trace.

 

 

Seen a few self seeders but not many.

[Squaredy]

6 hours ago, Stere said:

 

 

Seen a few self seeders but not many.

Self sown from leylandii?  Interesting; I didn’t know it was possible.  

[Peasgood]

I have quite a bit of it. Some on the floo some standing. It gets logged for firewood ☺️

biggest rings there are 26”.