Planting/management

[oakland firewood]

Ive taken on some woodland management, the woods are FULL of sycamore,ranging from tiny to huge but they are evrywhere ,with a scattering of huge ash and oak,with the odd chest nut etc the wood hasnt been touched for a lot of years if at all so im a bit confused where to start and what to re plant any suggestions and help would be great.

[joeydaniels]

what are you try to achieve with the land?

[ratcatcher]

pull/dig the young sycamore up, pot them up, then go onto SWOG (small woodland owners group) you'll sell them easy

[oakland firewood]

i didnt have a clue i could sell them there is millions of saplings. will someone come and collect them,how much are they worth?

 

im looking to try and make the wood healthier and try to get more other species rather than just 90 percent sycamore! how many of the ash do i copice? how many oaks do i clear,and which sycamore do i leave if any,what do i replant,i also need to take into consideration there is a shoot so need to let light in to encourage bramble and ground shrubs.

[ratcatcher]

before you start cutting down any broadleaf's, you need to check they haven't got a tree preservation order on them, which they probably have, is it ancient woodland? if its a section of a larger wood, you can get lots of info from neighbours/owners

although ground cover is good, you'll need pathways, ours is a bugger to get through with the brambles, so were busy cutting access areas

[ratcatcher]

i didnt have a clue i could sell them there is millions of saplings. will someone come and collect them,how much are they worth?

 

 

depends where you are, not sure on value, you wont be a millionaire from it, but extra money is extra money

[New Forest Firewood Co]

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/so-you-own-a-woodland.pdf/$file/so-you-own-a-woodland.pdf

[Lyncombe-climber]

Where are is it? Similarly we have 1000's of ash saplings. And our wood is 100% free of die back

[woodyguy]

Not sure you're going to make much money from flogging sycamores when you can buy them on line for 30p each anyway...

You need to decide on a management plan for your wood. What are you trying to do? Grow a wide range of species? Grow firewood? What's it for?

Most wood owners take a view of sycamore and either live with it or reduce the numbers. I'm about to fell about 30% of the trees in an area because the bigger sweet chestnut is being taken over by sycamore. I shall replant with Cherry, Italian Alder and Wild Service, which suits that area and my aims. Yours aims may differ!

[slack ma girdle]

Don't go dissing the Sycamore. It produces good firewood quickly, It harbours loads of aphids that feed a lots of hungry birds. Yes it can be a bit unruley, but the positives outway the negatives.