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coppiceer

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Everything posted by coppiceer

  1. coppiceer
    Thankyou for crediting me with the theory of ring-porous trees. I was actually paraphrasing from a book by Peter Thomas, Trees:Their Natural History page 49. According to the theory ring-porous trees have evolved to combat air pockets developing in the water column (as a result of freezing and rapid thawing when in leaf) by growing wider and longer vessels in the early spring wood to move water more efficiently than the smaller, narrower vessel cells in diffuse-porous trees. However, because this is a risky strategy, they also produce smaller cells in the later wood. Should the large vessels become air-filled and stop conducting water then the smaller vessel cells from older rings are utilised. Ash appears to be the most extreme example of this trait but it is difficult to generalise about trees due to their independant evolution.
  2. coppiceer
    Anything growing in those condiditons will struggle to establish. I would think about erecting some temporary windbreak netting to slow the wind down until the shrubs are well established. Otherwise you should make sure that the species that you plant will have a similar growth rate. The advantage of Holly is that it is prickly and evergreen. In the right conditions it grows quite quickly. But it will always be smothered by a fastgrowing species like hawthorn. Good luck.
  3. coppiceer
    Ash is generally the last tree to come into leaf. Ash wood (xylem) is classed as "ring-porous". This means that the tree has to grow a new ring of wood, containing the bundles of porous cells (tracheids and vessels) that can transmit water up to the leaves, before the leaves themselves are formed. Therefore, although an Ash tree lookes dormant in the early spring it is in fact growing new wood.
  4. coppiceer
    I had this sort of problem with weeds and old crops on an ex-arable site. The standard answer was that the weeds inside the tube didn't matter as long as a 1 metre diameter area around the plant was being sprayed. I followed this advice on all but the worst affected tubes and the trees suffered no damage and grew away vigorously. However on the worst affected specimens I pulled up the tube a couple of inches, pulled out the weeds, flattened them on the ground, replaced the tube and then sprayed them. Trying to spray the tops of the weeds will inevitably cause damage to the young trees as they take in the weedkiller through the stems as well as the leaves. Remove your guards as soon as the trees begin to crowd the space inside, as this is when you will get damage through rot.
  5. coppiceer
    Without deer fencing you will never have sustainable coppice regrowth. If you have badgers in your area then you must seek specialist advice about making the fencing badger-proof. Personally I would forget the whole idea.
  6. coppiceer
    What's your rabbit and deer situation? You won't get much coppice regrowth if its all being browsed away.
  7. coppiceer
    I too have found that repeated wetting and drying in the open aids the seasoning process. This is where people will shoot me but: I have found that burning logs at 20%-25% MC after 1 year still leaves them too wet to burn efficiently. My chimney sweep gave me an annual lecture about the buildup of tar and other deposits on my fire and chimney. I now store my logs for 2 years: 1 in the open and 1 under tarpaulins; giving me an MC in the range 10%-15%.
  8. coppiceer
    If we get some bad frosts and quick thaws whilst your hazel is in leaf, then the leaves will be trying to suck moisture from the stems whilst the water in the wood is still frozen. This will result in the water column within the stem being broken and the stem(s)will die. Check the hazel in the spring and, if the stems have died, then cut them back to the ground. If necessary you can cut (coppice) the hazel completely to ground level to induce new growth from the dormant root buds.
  9. coppiceer
    Congratulations Baba. Without any details of your site that seems a very reasonable price, especially given the demand for chestnut coppice. I am sure that you can look forward to years of endless back-breaking work in all weathers.
  10. coppiceer
    I had some dealings with Buckingham Nurseries and I would never go to them again.
  11. coppiceer
    That is pretty frightening, and frustrating for you, especially if you send them to cut down a particular tree and they cut down the neighbour's prize specimen instead. I am curious to know what a person who spent 2 years at arb college can actually do?
  12. coppiceer
    Why not try the RSPB? They ought to be able to give you the advice that you need. The RSPB: Advice
  13. coppiceer
    Best of luck in your search. You will probably need it in the southeast. The people in that area who might have some spare land and be in need of ready cash are the local and/or county councils. With pressure on budgets due to cuts, etc being what they are. I am afraid that you will need to consider anything, including bare land that you may have to plant yourself and land outside of the southeast. As to investment potential, it is always wise to manage any property to appeal to as wide a market as possible. So consider maintaining grassland, wetland, etc as well as woodland. There doesn't seem to be any limit to the types of things people want to do with land. I agree that prices appear high if you are a prospective buyer, but, once an owner you will see things differently and be glad that the British love affair with the countryside will always outstrip the manufacture of new land.
  14. coppiceer
    I am sure that you have your reasons for tackling this problem in the way that you are. But, as you are creating a nature reserve, wouldn't it be better to consult your local wildlife trust on the sort of species that they are keen to encourage in your area and work backwards from their list to identify the appropriate foodchains and therefore the habitat(s) that you need to establish? Sorry if this isn't very helpful, but once you know your target species then google comes into its own ( and Arbtalk, obviously).
  15. coppiceer
    The problem with Bramble is that the little birds (bless them) tend to drop the seeds all over the wood: thus ensuring a constant supply of new plants. Bramble will die out under heavy shade, unfortunately so will everything else, so no nice spring flower glades. I cut back the brambles to about 6" each winter and then spray the new leaves with a selective broadleaved weedkiller (Relay) in the early spring before much else is coming into leaf. If left to get out of hand, bramble shoots will festoon themselves among tree branches and rip you to pieces. But lots of wildlfe feeds on bramble flowers and fruit so as long as I am not too badly injured I tolerate a reasonable amount.
  16. coppiceer
    In my experience, the amount of usable wood that you are going to cut will depend on the age of the site. If it is a recently established plantation then you are mainly going to get rubbish (bent/forked stems) for the first few cycles. If it is an old site then a lot of the coppice may be "overstored" and be difficult to bring back into rotation. My site is an ex-arable plantation about 12 years old. Binders take 2-3 years to grow and stakes/poles 3-4. By 7 years the stuff is only fit for firewood. It all comes down to money in the end. Will you be better off spending hours of valuable earning time cutting out a few useful binders or being gainfully employed at what you do best?
  17. coppiceer
    I use a polytunnel for storing logs for our domestic woodburner. We have never had any problems with robustness of either the frame or the polythene cover. There migtht be a problem with condensation over the winter. We get ice forming on the inside and when the temperature rises it gets quite damp and drippy. I would definitely keep your doors open at all times.
  18. coppiceer
    The National Forest Company planted a test woodland on an ex-colliery site at Desford Lakes in Leicestershire. They produced a booklet: Woodland Creation - Experience from the National Forest - Technical paper 27. nationalforest.org | Contact us Or try Gary Kerr c/o Forestry Commission (one of the authors).
  19. coppiceer
    I keep getting emails from the rural development agency / Landskills East Midlands Lantra ? LandSkills EM ? training ? businesses ? funding. They seem to be keen on giving out grants.
  20. coppiceer
    This is a very interesting thread. I grow trees and produce my own firewood. We have a combined woodburning stove/gas boiler central heating system. From my own experience of the work involved I think that the "high" prices involved are thoroughly justified. However, on reflection I wouldn't pay for wood if there was any other alternative available. Partly because the price differential with gas (for example) is not high enough but mainly because when the woodburner is lit someone has to be responsible for keeping it going and maintaining the heat levels: with gas central heating you just switch the system on and forget about it. We have to negotiate on a "fire-monkey" rota for who has to keep the woodbunrer topped-up. This often involves some free and frank exchanges of views about who's turn it is.
  21. coppiceer
    I cut around 10,000 coppice rods each year: these are horizontal cuts at the base and not vertical pruning cuts. Silky blades last 2 years before I have to start working harder to compensate for the blunting of the blade, Cutting edge only last 6 months.
  22. coppiceer
    Ironically I started to use this technique after reading an article in "British Wildlife" about experiments in coppicing hazel in Scotland. I use it to obtain straight hazel stakes from bushes on the edges of my coppice sections. Often the outer stems grow at 45-degree angle bfore straightening towards the light; I find that cutting the stem at the bend causes new straight stems to be produced at the cuts. A bonus of this technique is that it seems to produce more shoots than coppicig at the base; a drawback is that the shoots do not grow as long as those from the base and, consequently, are only useful for stakes, walking sticks, etc. Swepstone Coppice
  23. coppiceer
    Start in September and finish around the end of March (depending on the weather) so that the wildlife can get on with their important business in spring.
  24. coppiceer
    Hello both, Thanks for the help. I seem to have inadvertently created ideal growing conditions for this moss. I am growing Ash in intimate mixture with Hazel at close spacing. It is where the Hazel has created deep shade and sheltered conditions that the moss is growing. It has to go though: my wife wants it for her hanging baskets. Thanks again.
  25. coppiceer
    Hello all, I have what appears to be some kind of moss growing around the base of my Ash Trees (Fraxinus excelsior). Has anyone seen this before? Could anyone put a name to it? It is quite easy to rub off. Will it suppress the growth of dormant buds after the tree has been felled? Thankyou.

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