Growing firewood

[openspaceman]

8 hours ago, john87 said:

Is silver birch any good?? Might have a load of that when the weather dries up..

 

john..

Yes but it needs splitting fast as whole logs can rot inside the bark it is so perishable. Lovely lively flame.

[Paul in the woods]

8 hours ago, john87 said:

Is silver birch any good?? Might have a load of that when the weather dries up..

 

Seasons quick and burns well but faster than ash. The birch I've processed has been from old and poorly grown trees so was surprisingly hard to split. I expect something like forestry thinnings would be much easier.

[doobin]

Burns quick but as said rots just as quick also! Wouldn't be my choice for a firewood crop and if cordwood would want to[ be cheap.

[coppice cutter]

Burning Leylandii at the minute, and have burnt it before.

 

Not the longest lasting but burns well and burns clean as others have said.

 

Only issue I have with it is the smell of the logs themselves. They're not rank or anything but they're not just as woody as most other things, if that makes sense.

 

But it's a minor gripe, well dried it's a perfectly good firewood.

 

Oh, and as for willow, I seasoned a clatter of willow whips (or slightly larger) as an experiment, stacked them in the saw horse, tied them down, and run a saw down through them to cut in to lengths for kindling. It's been a huge success, and I'll be saving more of them for the same job this coming winter.

Edited November 2, 2021 by coppice cutter

[Mrblue5000]

Agree with willow for kindling. It’s growing wild in our NS, about 8-10 m tall. We cut it and stack it between 2 trees and leave it there for 2 years to let the wind dry it with no cover.

[coppice cutter]

All my willow is self seeded as well, I never planted any, it presumably comes from a small area (less than 1/2 acre) downwind of my own wood.

 

I thought they were going to be a nuisance, as it turns out, far from it.

[Silverhooker]

I'm planning to put some willow whips in to screen off an area in the garden, when is the best time to do it ??

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, Silverhooker said:

I'm planning to put some willow whips in to screen off an area in the garden, when is the best time to do it ??

Now is fine for soils with a bit of sand as roots will develop all the time soil temperature remains above 5C, heavy clay soils can water log roots before they get established so March can be better.

 

Unless you have some special willows you generally do not need rooted whips; dib a hole 6" into the ground, put a 12" cut branch in and gently backfill with dry sand.

 

 

[spandit]

13 hours ago, openspaceman said:

Unless you have some special willows you generally do not need rooted whips; dib a hole 6" into the ground, put a 12" cut branch in and gently backfill with dry sand.

Just jab the willow into the ground - if it's cut at an angle it'll go in and they're such voracious rooters - mine grow roots all the way along if you just leave them on damp ground for too long. Any time from now should do but I generally wait for a bit longer to make sure they're properly dormant

[john87]

1 hour ago, spandit said:

Just jab the willow into the ground - if it's cut at an angle it'll go in and they're such voracious rooters - mine grow roots all the way along if you just leave them on damp ground for too long. Any time from now should do but I generally wait for a bit longer to make sure they're properly dormant

Hi there, I am only a newbie at all this. Was just wondering why it is better to wait until they are dormant. Would it not be better to plant the things when it is growing season??

 

john..