Feanor
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Everything posted by Feanor
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Thanks for your infos Marko. I planted 1/4 acre of hybrid willows last year. Compo: You say the willows reach "log size" very quickly. How long and how big are we talking about? Cheers
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Hi there, Sorry to necro this thread. I am wondering how your willows are doing? I planted 1/4 acre last year and they have grown into 6-8 (even one 13ft!) wips ready to be cut down for the multiple shoots to come out. I'm intrigued by your technique of planting them directly into the soil without any sheet matting. Could you elaborate more on this? These end up costing a little fortune. A good 50-80 pence per tree. When you are planting 500-600 trees, its a heckuva lot of money. Do you use herbicides? Cheers!
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My first choice would have been to plant a mixed native coppice. Thing is, I only have 2 acres to spare and a very hungry wood-fired range. I'd say I need about 8-10 cu. m. (or around 75 Mbtus) per year. From what I understand, using only native species, I would be hard pressed to ever become "firewood self-sufficient" from these two acres. I looked at the trees that grow fast and produce the most energy (btus/acre/year). Hybrid willows and poplars are on top of the list. But then, maybe I'm wrong. I'd love to hear alternative ideas.
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Hi there, Thanks you both for your answers. woodyguy, that's a good question. I had a quick look in one of my books. There is some info in Creating a Forest Garden by Martin Crawford. He says most of the nitrogen will come from litterfall as well as root turnover (fine roots dying every years). According to him, there is a mycorrhidal fungi present around the roots of most trees including willows. This fungi is able to move nitrogen around. Here's a quote from the book: I am pleased with this answer. I felt putting alders close to the willows would have cause to much competition. Hybrid willows are so very agressive! There will be a maintenance track between the alders and the willows so hopefully this will work. Because we're talking about an 8 year rotation plan, I think the nitrogen will have had enough time to be moved from the alders to the willows. Thanks again!
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Hi All, I will soon be planting hybrid willows for a short rotation forestry (on an 8 years rotation). This is to provide me with firewood. I will also plant red alders along in a kind of support role to provide nitrogen as well as firewood. Here's the plan of one "coupe" with about 2/3 of the space dedicated to willows (light green) the rest going to red alder (1/3). Actual proportions will doubtless tend towards 3/4 and 1/4. Planned willow spacing is 5ft and alder is 9ft at the moment. As for local conditions, I am on a Welsh hill with some high winds and shallow loamy soil (2-3 ft deep). My question is on spacing the red alder. On an 8 yr. rotation, what spacing would you plant them on? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!
