Growing firewood

[Lucan]

6 minutes ago, Big J said:

Ooh, that's expensive! But thanks for the link.

 

I've been chatting to Bryan Elliot of Devon Forestry Consultants about E. Nitens. He lives and breathes Eucalyptus, by all account.

Might cost a bit but may be worth it comparing it to the outlay on your project (and that's not just because an old colleague is one of the authors).

 

For example it talks about the growth rate, soil requirements, also the poor frost tolerance of E.nitens, such as the trial at Thetford were it failed completely, and how important the provenance of the seedlings is with regards to such tolerance.

 

[Big J]

1 minute ago, Lucan said:

Might cost a bit but may be worth it comparing it to the outlay on your project (and that's not just because an old colleague is one of the authors).

 

For example it talks about the growth rate, soil requirements, also the poor frost tolerance of E.nitens, such as the trial at Thetford were it failed completely, and how important the provenance of the seedlings is with regards to such tolerance.

 

Completely understand and respect the experience and knowledge embodied in it, but I am in the fortunate position of living very close to a eucalyptus expert here in Devon

 

[The avantgardener]

I have been planting Eucalyptus in the test plots at Bedgebury Pinetum for a good few years.

There where two small compartments that stood up to the 87 storm that we extended.

The growth rate on some types has been spectacular.

One thing that I have learned about Eucalyptus, although they are hardwoods, not all will readily coppice at stump, but these will respond well to a high pollard.

As you have a local expert, that’s great help.

[sandspider]

3 hours ago, Big J said:

This is a great thread. Really sad to see the amount of ash that has been grown, as no doubt it's now dead.

 

We're going to be planting 2.2 acres with eucalyptus nitens in spring, which I intend to intesively manage to maximise yield. The field is at 110m ASL, south facing, flat and gently sloping, sandy ground, well drained.

 

I'm extremely interested to see what kind of growth rate we'll get. 10-12m at 4 years old seems doable. We'll fertilise before planting too.

I did a bit of euc research, and in 2017 I planted  E. nitens and E. neglecta. The growth rate is phenomenal, especially on the nitens. I planted them out at about 6" tall (too soon really) and now they're at least 8 or 10 foot tall. I haven't fertilised them or anything, just whacked them into grassy soil with a weed membrane on top.

 

One thing to note: they're supposed to be cold hardy, but this only applies to mature trees. I didn't protect my seedlings at all and they were badly knocked back by frosts. A few died, particularly the neglecta.

[sandspider]

I'll find photos, but I'm not at home at the moment.

[sandspider]

Hunted out a few pics. First one is Eucalyptus nitens, planted out end of June 2017. Second is Eucalyptus neglecta, planted out at the same time.

[sandspider]

These ones are the same plants after frost nip, in April 2018. Neglecta then nitens this time.

 

[sandspider]

And the same trees today! Nitens then neglecta. While that's the biggest neglecta (probably 12 foot tall on looking at it again), the others aren't too far behind.

Nitens are growing a lot slower, though they may have been hit harder by the frost. They're supposed to be hardier than neglecta if I remember right!

[sandspider]

Just for comparison, here are photos (from today) of an alder and a sweet chestnut I planted at a similar time to the eucs. Or possibly in early 2018.

[sandspider]

Just to refresh this topic, my Neglecta are ready for coppicing! Phenomenal growth, must be 25 foot tall now. Will coppice this winter, or maybe pollard... Pollard would be a bit more convenient, but I think they're likely to recover better from coppicing low down.