Luke Quenby

Any one into or looking to get into charcoal burning in the Bedfordshire area?

Currently looking to start restoration of over stood hazel coppice across a site of around 60 acres. Some of the coppice will go for firewood, some for hedgelaying materials and traditional uses but it would be good if some could go to charcoal burning also.

This could be a good long term opportunity in a decent woodland with good access. Finer details to be disscussed, just putting some feelers out at the moment to see if anyone in the area is interested.  

Pm me if you wish. Cheers. 

That is a cracking link! Super

It is very helpful. I first stumbled across it a few years back, cuts out trying to extract information from your local council and because it's under the defra umbrella it's (generally) up to date and covers a multitude of things [emoji3]

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Magic map

http://magic.defra.gov.uk/

Defra map, you can put all different layers on like sssi, felling licence and conservation areas etc etc. Easy to use and tons of land based info.

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Evening all,

 

This spring I planted 50 Laurels, these were about 2 feet high in 4 different woods I look after.

 

In three of the woods with sandy soil I lost an odd one but most are growing on nicely.

 

In one wood I have a problem. About an acre is size its on a steep hill which is a knob of heavy clay, it was planted with Ash, Beech, oak and a few birch, 50 or so Kent Cobnuts at the lower edge, surrounded by a quickthorn hedge that was laid 2 years ago. Wood has been planted about 30 years.

 

I had planted laurels in there some 5 years ago, those right on top of the hill grew well but most of the rest just died immediately. The ones that grew were in heavy soil but had better light.

 

Having laid the previously planted laurels to improve ground cover I planted another 25 further down the bank, generally on the edge of the trees and the Cobnuts. Trees are 25 - 30 feet or so tall, and around 8 yards apart, canopy is reasonably open. These were watered in well and then left to their own devices. I visited in June, all were well, went again this week and only found one alive of the 12 I checked. No sign of any damage, leaves had gone brown and withered away.

 

Is this a soil and or light issue ?, the soil being clay will hold water so I doubt its a water issue, if it was those in the other woods planted at the same time in sandy soil would have died faster. In fairness they are under far taller trees but have competition with elders. While there are badgers present they have not damaged the plants which were surrounded by rabbit guards, no deer much and no sign of browsing.

 

Any thoughts ?, suspect its a light issue.

 

Thanks

 

A

To wet for laurels by the sound of it, there a Mediterranean plant so don't like clay / cold / wet. They will do well on the sandy stuff but laurels and clay don't generally mix to well. Very easy to overwater them, this will make the leaves go brown and lead to failure fairly quickly.

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Thanks all.

 

Good shout Rover, hadn't considered that. Though might not ( or might?) get any growth from the base?

Gavint and arbwork - from our quick phone conversation, she had seen a laid hedge up the road, liked it and wants one! Here to help!

 

One step up from one customer who saw me hedgelaying and wanted one but couldn't understand that she needed trees first. Only had a barbed wire fence. Tricky. !

 

Meeting soon to have a look and chat.

 

Thanks.

If you or the customer is concerned about this then scoring the bark in a spiral, bit like a helter skelter, around the main stem will encourage quick growth where there is none. Works best on Hawthorn and Blackthorn, best done early spring or as the saps starting to rise.

Bit of a random one but wondering if anyone can help me. I've acquired about 15 - 18 ton of Oak cord, all around 3 - 6" diameter and about 3 - 4' lengths. Cutting it with the chainsaw is fine, but time consuming and steady.

Does anyone know of anyone or has access to a log saw / saw bench / processor to hire out? Located in Beds but will travel to pick up, would need it for a weekend I would guess. Splitter not important, only about 20% will need splitting and I'll do that by hand.

Any help much appreciated, thanks.

That's a fairly low pollard!

A phase 1 habitat survey is a basic enough ecological report that should satisfy the conservation officer.

You could omit the desktop / historical aspect of it and just go for a walkover survey and produce a basic hand drawn annotated map to accompany. This will give baseline data and information to work with, and the ability to pinpoint any areas for further study or specialist work without to much effort.

This link should help point you in the right direction

Phase 1 Habitat Classification

Pm me if you need any help, I've done plenty of them and this sort of thing, might even be persuaded to come and have a look for you.

Cheers.

give it a go just have your pleaches about 18inches two foot. and a good side axe over chainsaw will go with grain unlike chainsaw againts grain.

i have a chainsaw but use my axes majority of the time just use saw for cutting back of pleaches off and clearing what is not needed.find it as quick if not quicker and have more control. let us know how you get on be very interested in results

Sounds a plan, I should be getting the binders and stakes in the next week or so and would hope to get started over Christmas, but have lots on so more likely first couple of weeks of January. Shall post pics when done!

Nope, its west facing and shading itself out. There's a few ash trees nearby, but nothing dramatic. The mess to the top left of the pictures is the start of the woodland / mature yew trees.

I'm not to worried about it looking 'proper' and the definition of proper varies greatly but I'm certainly not after manicured, just a bit more managed!

Should have mentioned the pictures were taken a couple of years ago, I've taken all the dead base out now, and reduced / pollarded / removed some of the self set Ash and H. Chestnut close by.

That's what I was thinking about the long pleachers, and Yew's pliability should be a help. Hoping someone who has tackled something like this maybe able to comment on their experience?

I've done my share of hedge laying over the years, and love it, but never taken on a Yew hedge like this. Its not a particularly long run and is pretty gappy, but to let the other hedge plants, flowers and the Yew hedge itself thrive it needs something doing to it!

Thanks for that Alec, encouraging, I hadn't seen this thread, not been on for some time.

I've no doubt to the re-generative properties of Yew, and have given some severe treatment over the years for them to flourish like the pictures David put up, so am not worried in that sense, but am interested to know if anyone has ever layed a Yew hedge before. I will try and post some pics to see if that sheds some light.

As for the Oaks, long term work in progress! Your not forgotten! Did you ever get any pics of milling the big lump up?

As the title suggests, got a Yew hedge that was once upon a time (50+ years ago) clipped and shaped nicely in some old pics I've seen.

Many years of neglect means I've basically inherited the 'skeleton' of where it was regularly cut and tall spindly regrowth about 4 - 10" in diameter and around 15 - 20' high.

I've removed all the dead, and am now contemplating what to do for the best next. I've started planting various hedging plants below, but these are obviously going to struggle for light to get going.

The master plan is to eventually turn the area next to it into a wild flower / wild area, so I need some more light and want to manage the hedge better for diversity and wildlife.

I'm wondering if laying it and gapping up is feasible? Never seen or heard of a Yew hedge being layed before, so all opinions welcome! Cheers.

Some Yew I did a while back with my ms660 and 24" Alaskan. And a few pictures of a couple of bits made with some of it.

There you go, quite as a mouse, but if your felling deadwood, its still gonna make a noise when it hits the deck!

http://http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/acatalog/Specialised_Products.html

2nd that .

Yep, bored now. What you up to then? Speak up or pipe down. You've got a plan, sounds dodgy, you want help but won't say what it is!

In my experience, mills really nicely. A good stable wood. I milled some a couple of years ago with my Alaskan, and if I get this right, you should be able to see the thread here

http://http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/milling-forum/30231-milling-yew.html

Nearly 2 years ago now and ready to use, no cracking and no warping to speak of. Was stored outside with stickers of 1.5", and ratchet strapped together around the whole milled tree to stop any potential warp.

Beautiful wood to work with, you get the 'wow' factor every time you peel a board off and see what colours and grains are beneath.

For a 3"x3" post you want to be looking at around 6" across I'm guessing as a minimum, so you can square it off

Sounds a great idea to make church gates with it, look forward to seeing some pictures!

Well done rob I misses this give me 10mins I will send him a pm

If ur deep in Essex Alex agg221 top bloke

Second that, speak to Alec - agg221, he will see you right and knows his stuff

So if ash was the best and sycamore 2nd best, what would be the third best species to plant for firewood coppice?

Hornbeam and Alder are great and traditionally proven. Probably a close one for third. Alder likes the wet and Hornbeam not that quick a grower but the best firewood you can get in my opinion, if you have the patience to season it well.

Robinia is a brilliant one to try out. Grows very quick, burns very hot and splits and seasons well. Coppices good and is durable should you want to use it for anything other than firewood like posts, gates etc.

Damn that's big lol any idea on how old it was?

Feel free to come over and count the rings..........

All things being equal I'll be doing something similar sized this weekend, and I do intend to stand it on end if I can. The down side if you're using a mill is that gravity won't keep the mill on the log, but in my case it's too big for a mill anyway so will be freehanding. I hope to get some pics for comparison.

 

Alec

Good on you Jennie for doing this for a great charity. My Mum lost her fight with cancer just before Christmas, and its taken some good mates over the years to. I think the new 'Cancers turn to be scared' campaign is great, as is the race for life.

My Mrs is doing it this year, last year she climbed Kilimanjaro for Macmillan and she's off to Everest base camp on Saturday for the same charity. So all our spare pennies will be going that way, but just wanted to say well done to you, and as ever, good on everyone who has sponsored you - top bunch of people.

They either do bugger all or go right over the top.

Spot on Mick, that sums them up perfect. Fair play for rescuing the cat though!

Been a while since planted any large amounts but seem to remember could get up to 500 a day done slit planting and then guarding afterwards, its guards that slow you down, its not quick putting spiral guards on hawthorns

Sounds about right, you should be able to crack 500 in a day once you get going, doesn't take long to get your eye in.

As other say, its the guards and canes that can be the longest part.

Other things to think about are what is the soil like and how wet is it or has it been where your planting, what is the state of the vegetation your planting into if there is any, and if so, does it need controlling before hand? Things like deschampsia can be awkward as hell to get through, and not good for establishment.

And also are there any hidden gems like a multitude of old roots or buried hardcore etc. Or a nettled up area with a web of surface roots to break through.

A bit of preparation and fore-thought will make it a good job for you to do, and with the amount of ELS and HLS funding about, there could be a fair bit of hedge planting about in the winter months so worth a bit of thought. Good luck!

No dealings with them but guessing they are part of the Stobart empire they will be pretty on the ball and good to deal with. Good luck, a proper stroke of deserved luck, send some this way if you like!