Alder coppice

[New Forest DEAN]

Hi All

 

I have just acquired a small area (about 1/5 acre, say 20x40m) of Alder, just off my garden.

 

It was cut down about 6 years ago, but has already regrown in dense clumps to about 15 feet hight. Each 'tree' (clump / multi bole) is about 3m apart forming a dense canopy.

 

The ground below is very wet, with a drainage ditch running through the middle.

 

Any advice on what I could do with this? to improve? to use? (firewood) thin out? encourage?

 

Really not sure what to do with it at the moment.

 

Thanks in advance for any tips or advice.

 

Cheers - DEAN.

[Neil Wilson - tree connection]

Hi Dean,

 

Alder love the wet so I would leave the drainage to do its thing for now.

 

After talking with Ted Green from the Ancient Tree Forum about coppicing he spoke of the beaver technique !! basically just chop out about 50% of each stool and let the res grow on.

He also said to leave the cuts about a foot from the ground.

Think I remember reading that Alder is good for fence posts ? though not completely sure.

Hope this helps.

Neil

http://www.treeconnection.co.uk

[Ty Unnos]

Sounds perfect!

 

Alder likes wet ground, coppices really well and makes good firewood.

 

Coppice every 10-15 years for a supply of firewood other than that let nature do its thing!

[New Forest DEAN]

Cheers Guys

 

You don't think it sounds too dense then? or could it be denser?

 

Its a bit unmanaged - historically they just put a bulldozer through it about 6 years ago and flattened everything. This is what's grown back up - some sprouted from the logs left on the ground!

 

Alder is apparently very resistant to the wet once cut - often used for piers etc.

 

Thanks again - DEAN.

Edited August 16, 2012 by New Forest DEAN

[slack ma girdle]

Alder is very rot resistant, but it must be permanantly wet/ submerged, otherwise it will rot completely in less than 18 months.

It season quickly, and splits better than Ash.

If it was mine i would leave it for 15 years and start harvesting it.

Lucky you.

[openspaceman]

Cheers Guys

 

You don't think it sounds too dense then? or could it be denser?

 

 

I'm not sure when alder first sets seed but if it has little cones before you re coppice it then it will seed into the spaces between the stools of your little carr. I'd leave it for at least 15 years and in 1985 I cut over an area that was last harvested for charcoal for gunpowder in WW2. Even then we could see the wire rope scars from the previous session in WW1 on beech trees on top of the bog. The estate also had records of spaghnum being gathered for wound dressings from it.

 

It also layers well if you leave a few sunshoots and peg them between the stools.

 

 

 

Alder is apparently very resistant to the wet once cut - often used for piers etc.

 

 

And clogs plus as has been said it is very underrated as firewood

[New Forest DEAN]

Thanks again.

 

Catweazel - not being familiar with the terms, I presume layering means planting / growing less mature trees in the gaps (sunshoots?)??

 

That might be a good idea, because, despite the relatively dense canopy, the stools are set quite far apart.

 

My main intention would be use it for firewood and somewhere for the kids to play.

 

DEAN.

[Ty Unnos]

There is a picture of layering here:

 

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/rin259.pdf/$FILE/rin259.pdf

 

Basically shoots are bent over and put in contact with the ground. They then grow roots and sprout. After a year or so you can cut the shoot from the parent tree and they will grow on by themselves. Its a bit like runners from a strawberry plant.

 

Personally I don't bother with pegging the layer. I bend over a nice long shoot, sharpen the end with my billhook and push it deep into the ground. I then half cut the shoot near the base to stop it trying to stand up again. Takes about 30 seconds and seems to work well enough.

[openspaceman]

Thanks again.

 

Catweazel - not being familiar with the terms, I presume layering means planting / growing less mature trees in the gaps (sunshoots?)??

 

 

 

The welshman has posted a good link, I never saw any books like this because everyone just picked up how to do it from co workers. When I started there was great argument about whether one should be allowed to coppice with a chainsaw for fear of the rougher cut spoiling the stools. What did for the billhook practitioners in woodlands with public access was the owner's fear of litigation if someone's dog landed on a sharp spike plus they were known to poke through a 8 ply 12 by 38. Early on as a proud owner of one of the few Husky 165Rs I was sent in to trim of pointy stools in a public area.

 

Some species when laid in the soil will root and produce a new plant, the main thing is to maintain the umbilical for the stool to keep the shoot tip alive while the root takes. With hazel you can just stamp on the stem to break it from the stool while maintaining the root connection. The plash cut is just to make the bend flexible enough without disrupting the cambium.

 

Carr is an alder wood

 

A sun shoot is a shoot that has grown more recently from the stool than the original coppice stems.

[New Forest DEAN]

That's all good info - cheers guys.

 

Will get stuck in...

 

DEAN.