Hazel and Chestnut

[digga]

do a ring count on some of them and see

[Quickthorn]

I'd say some of those could be 50+ years old.

 

The big stuff's firewood or charcoal, as has been said. You can sometimes find a few walking stick blanks in amongst the sun shoots, and 5-6' blanks can be worth £1-2 each.

 

I'd go for it, though, and pretty much clear fell everything you can, maybe leaving the odd rod for layering if needed. Hazel normally comes back well. They like a lot of light, though, and what can kill them is coppicing when they're already overtaken and shaded out by other stuff - sycamore, for example. Doesn't look like a problem here.

 

The other threat is deer. They're so bad in some places that newly cut areas have to be fenced off for a few years after cutting. If you can't do that, then it's a good idea to make sure the areas you cut are not too small - I think they recommend to cut areas at least 0.2 ha, or half an acre.

 

For what it's worth, the FC produced a little information note about restoring old hazel coppice.

 

ForestryCommission Information Note 56

[Pat Ferrett]

Cheers Quickthorn! I've ordered a copy of silvaculture and coppice management from the Fc. Im going to go back up there tomorrow and have a tidy up, I would like to find a spot with some bean sticks in it and get a few bundles to sell at a boot sale in a couple of months time just to spur me on. As I've never done any of this sort of thing before I need to reasure myself that I will at least break even, and not lose money:thumbup1:

[Brushcutter]

Wow thats some big Hazel. Good for firewood and charcoal. Thats going to be a hard job. If the stools look like they may well fail soon try laying down some thin stems to keep the genetic stock of the stool going. Whats the deer pressure like? I've worked on one site where each stool hand to be fenced the pressure was so high. The woods i did last week compartment one of the wood showed no pressure but numbers 12 and 10 had a fair amount.

[Brushcutter]

Cheers Quickthorn! I've ordered a copy of silvaculture and coppice management from the Fc. Im going to go back up there tomorrow and have a tidy up, I would like to find a spot with some bean sticks in it and get a few bundles to sell at a boot sale in a couple of months time just to spur me on. As I've never done any of this sort of thing before I need to reasure myself that I will at least break even, and not lose money:thumbup1:

 

One of the benifits of restoring lapsed coppice is that you get quite a lot of tonnage comming off in the first year. With firewood prices the way they are you can make a fair bit.

[Pat Ferrett]

A up Brushcutter I got a pictures of the hazel layering its self, nature is a brilliant thing . As for the deer I do my best to manage the Roe but to be honest they dont really do alot of damage in the woods as the dog walkers keep them on the move, I saw the first Muntjac on the estate last year but didnt have the .243 with me . As for logs Im going to cut it into lenghts and stack it but getting it out might be a problem unless I can borrow a tractor and trailer or pick up a cheap Hilux over the next 9 months .

[Brushcutter]

A up Brushcutter I got a pictures of the hazel layering its self, nature is a brilliant thing . As for the deer I do my best to manage the Roe but to be honest they dont really do alot of damage in the woods as the dog walkers keep them on the move, I saw the first Muntjac on the estate last year but didnt have the .243 with me . As for logs Im going to cut it into lenghts and stack it but getting it out might be a problem unless I can borrow a tractor and trailer or pick up a cheap Hilux over the next 9 months .

 

Get it stacked up and see if you have enough to make it worth getting a tractor in. Does the estate have one or a timber trailer.

[Pat Ferrett]

All the work on the estate is done by contractors, seems to be the way most farms down here are going . got a mate with 2 horses that he used to ploughs with at Singleton open air museum, would be heart warming to see them on the farm

[Matthew Arnold]

I helped a local shoot out last winter clearing out an old (20 years +) hazel and ash coppice. The hazel stools we cut down until it was 2 inches above the detritus line on the stump. Some of the stools were knee high but looked like upside down pudding/mixing bowls. The Ash stools we coppiced to the same degree. We left the more stable stools and removed the really whippy ones. Half of the branch wood was used as holding cover for pheasants. The other half was chipped up and is being used as a subsitute to fuel/oil spill granules. The logs all went for splitting. Was hard going but over 4 weekends (2 in feb, 2 in march) the keeper, woodmen and i cleared about 2 acres. The rest we plan to selectively remove over the next few years. When i get 5 mins whilst im shooting next week i shall get some pictures of it. When we started the most notable species was Speckled Wood butterflies and Dogs Mercury. This year we have dormice (16 boxes put up late summer this year, 14 being used), Silver Washed Fritillaries, Pearl Bordered Fritillaries and Green Washed Fritillaries. And a good selection of wildflowers, most notable would be the Bluebells that appeared in the cleared area.

[Marko]

Great thread and great pics. Has anyone else had any success striking hazel from a rod?

 

I tend to limit cutting to Nov through Feb but then we have not got that much to go at yet.