Planting for a Sweet Chestnut coppice - any tips?

[gooseflight]

Alba trees:

 

Sweet Chestnut | Castanea sativa - Alba Trees

[Gary Prentice]

Our two local nurseries still advertise them, but can't fill the orders! Not saying that everyone else is the same. I was just pointing out that there could be supply problems.

 

 

I don't currently specify them for planting just because of the plant health aspects, but obviously the OP has a specific objective so substitution isn't an option.

[Goaty]

We used to grow them on the nursery when I was younger. I'm sure they could be propagated by the stooling method. Or suckers in young plants. I remember lifting them with roots on other shoots at ground level.

[Beardie]

We're going to be planting about 300 Sweet Chestnut transplants & whips as a coppice.

What kind of spacing should we be planting them at?

 

Other top tips also appreciated....

cheers, steve

 

If you didn't know how many to plant per unit of area, how did you arrive at 300 for your site?

 

Ben Law's chestnut coppice in West Sussex is very closely spaced, about 2m between stools. After a few year's growth, you can barely squeeze between them.

[SteveA]

If you didn't know how many to plant per unit of area, how did you arrive at 300 for your site?

 

Ben Law's chestnut coppice in West Sussex is very closely spaced, about 2m between stools. After a few year's growth, you can barely squeeze between them.

 

We have plenty of room so we could space them out, or if there is benefit in planting them close together then we could do that.... we get a bit of funding towards it from Glastir, hence we are contracted for planting over 300 trees.

 

If Ben Law plants at 2m I think that's good enough for me!.... could also plant a couple of lines a bit further apart, eg 5m.

 

Thanks for all the thoughts & advice

cheers, steve

[agg221]

Chestnut doesn't grow away very well if overshadowed. I would therefore plant blocks at different spacings for different products - some bigger stuff will ultimately be useful for cleaving into post and rail or even milling into dimensioned structural timber. There is almost no sapwood so it doesn't need to get anything like as big as oak to be useful.

 

Alec

[JLA Arborists]

Think about weed suppression.

I believe some woods are planted closer early on to help, this adds earlier height and naturally removes the weeker trees.

Another point on weeds is if using strimmers what's an average swing? plant at that, as wider will be less efficient when strimming and closer increases risk of tree strike

[steve collins]

2m grid so you can get between them with topper whilst they are growing

[Stereo]

Anyone got any tips for growing from seed? Got a few big old ones in the wood and would like to start a coppice in our valley for timber products. Probably not in my lifetime but I think it's the thing to do.

[SteveA]

Anyone got any tips for growing from seed? Got a few big old ones in the wood and would like to start a coppice in our valley for timber products. Probably not in my lifetime but I think it's the thing to do.

 

1. Stop the mice eating them

2. Sow as soon as you can, 3 times the depth of the seed (6" perhaps).

3. Normally they need a period of cold (we left ours out over winter).

4. Soil.... gritty moist compost.

5. The pots need to be 12" deep....either root liners or pots.

 

Last year we sowed ours when we got the seeds at Xmas (from supermarket chestnuts) and we had frosts in February and they came through after that.

 

This year we sowed them the same sort of time and we've just had two shoots already but it's probably not been cold enough.... so they just need to be left longer.... don't disturb them until they've had plenty of time to shoot.

 

Once they start growing well from the pots it's best to transplant them outside into soil.

 

If you have a shortage of plants you could layer them and they'll root along the ground & you can take cuttings.

 

Hope this helps.

cheers, steve