JonnoR

Hi Stubby- yes, sorry, that's a good shout, thanks. I suppose much of this will be determined by the quality of tree nurseries in the area and what they stock. Would you say that getting in to the forest at the end of Feb is kind of too late to be doing much beyond survey and getting to know the place in general? Would you suggest that I source next year's lumber from elsewhere and get to work in my own land next winter? Cheers, Jon

That's a really good observation - I've seen that sort of layout in France before, a little further south I seem to remember. The area where I am buying is famous for providing oak barrels for the Bordeaux wine industry, so I wonder if the oaks were planted to support that activity, which might explain the absence of coppice/pollarding. Cheers, Jonno

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Good point, I'll avoid in that case. I'll look about for damp tolerant alternative which are less of a pain the hoop to deal with! Cheers, Jonno

Thanks for the feedback 5 shires. I have an option of receiving free advice from the French forestry agency 'cnpf' (https://www.cnpf.fr/n/the-forest-development-organizations/n:249) who are tasked with trying to support private forestry ownership and promoting best practice. I'm currently looking for advice on articles to read, to give me a primer to support dialogue with them. They offer access to EU subsidies but usually in exchange for the owner accepting a management plan. I'd rather not go down that road in the first few years as it may tie me in to activities that I don't want to start on just yet. Cheers, Jonno

Hello all, I hope this is the right area for my query! I have purchased a property in Central France, which comes with approximately 25 acres of predominantly oak plantation, sitting within forestry of about 70 acres overall. The oak stands seem to have been never been coppiced, and on average the oaks are currently approx. 14" in diameter and relatively closely spaced (I'm still in the UK, so photos and more precise measurements will have to wait till I move in at the end of the month). There are some mature trees dotted about, and appear to be made up of Sweet Chestnut, Hazel and a few massive Walnut trees dotted about the place. The ground is not sloping, but seems to be formed of a series of broad terraces, going down to a large river. No flooding is recorded at the higher levels, but there is small 25 metre area along the bank that shows signs of having been flooded in recent years. The house I have purchased is wood-fired, so one priority is to put the forest to work to heat my home. I also intend to stalk deer on the land, of which there is plenty of sign (red and roe by the looks of it, and no boar to speak of). I would love to create a coppicing plan (or pollarding, given the amount of game in the area), to add the biodiversity of the oak stands, support a deer-friendly habitat and generally make the forest work for a living. I would also like to look at planting some willow trees along the river bank, or other suitable trees, to act as a wind break and provide some additional variety of wildlife habitat. I would be incredibly grateful is anyone has any suggestions for publications to read, to help in my research. I have most of the coppice books on earth I think, but I would like recommendations on any forestry commission documents of merit. Very grateful also for any views you have of the type of coppice rotation to adopt, and whether in fact the oaks in particular are too well developed to make coppicing a good idea! Cheers, Jonno

Many thanks for your thought-provoking article. I'm in the process of buying 25 acres of oak woodland in France and, given the excessive deer population, I'm hesitant to coppice. I had thought of adopting a wood pasture approach as a way of increasing bio-diversity. I think that in the long run, managing the deer/boar and fencing newly harvested coups might be more profitable.