The last couple of years I've been planting a few trees in the corner of our "large" 2 acre field with the view to making this into a little coppice for firewood and somewhere for the kids to make dens when they're older.
In this little corner there is about 30 native trees, cherry, hazel, sweet chestnut, cherry, etc. But in my fencing frenzy of the last month or so (I'm going to draw up a plan so everyone will know what area I'm on about when I talk about it) I've sectioned off a long strip about 10m wide and 80m long (approx) down the one field to make this coppice area bigger, now needing hundreds of trees.
The trouble is what to plant.
I want to be able to coppice this on a short rotation if possible and divide it up into sections that will be coppiced each year.
 |
| My Potential plan for the coppice area (a very rough plan) |
I've been reading about hybrid willow and it seems to be the fastest growing tree about that coppices well and is relatively good for firewood and charcoal making. The beauty of growing it like that is the logs only ever reach about 4" in diameter so there is no splitting required.
What I want to know is has anyone else had any experience of growing hybrid willow for logs and what does it burn like on a high efficiency wood stove? Or should I go for slower growing native trees like sweet chestnut and hazel?
I think that to have any hope of a five year rotation, you'll have to plant something fast growing. I've not grown it, but have burned willow in a clearview and it was fine as I recall.
ReplyDeleteOur stove is a clearview and has been burning Poplar well so I guess the same would be true with willow.
DeleteYears ago I remember reading that certain types of willow are grown specifically for burning in Scandinavian Ceramic Stoves because of the heat they burn at being high. They also uptake a large amount of Carbon Dioxide as they grow and as you say are quick growing. In our other house we had a woodburner and burnt lots of willow and it was great but it was not grown specifically just there.
ReplyDeleteAny carbon that they take in will be released when I burn it, so it's carbon neutral. I think it would only be any good on a stove otherwise it would burn too fast.
DeleteOur Chestnut has a 15 year rotation. It burns well, and is useful on several other fronts; as I'm sure you know well. A couple of acres would keep you permanently in wood.
ReplyDeleteI haven't got the space for 2acres of woods as grass will be more useful in the long run! Sweet chestnut doesn't grow that well round here but I agree it's a much more useful timber, although that's a long rotation to get set up.
DeleteWe grow willow for basketry, animal food and burning.
ReplyDeleteWe planted a line down one side of our paddock about ten years ago. Initially I was thinking basketry, but since then it has developed into a valuable source of gost and rabbit food, garden structures, bean poles and firewood.
It burns well and as it is coppiced is easier to manage than "trees"
We also planted a dozen Ash trees. Ash grows quickly and can be burnt green too.
Gill
How wide a strip did you plant and what type of willow is it? Glad it worked for you, I'm thinking that a 12m strip should provide quite a bit of wood each year. I'll put some traditional trees like ash at the bottom of the coppice. Goat fodder is another advantage that I'd want to take advantage of. Thanks
DeleteThere's an hybrid Poplar - Willow tree that grows 6-8 feet a year. Bow Hayes Trees in Devon sell them. They are on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteThose were the ones I was looking at, although slightly more expensive than others on the Internet they seem a long standing company so I might go for them.
DeleteWe've not done it yet but we have been advised to go for willow as the main crop for coppicing and burning for our wood burner. I'll be interested to see what you choose.
ReplyDeleteI think this is what I'm going to go for just trying to decide how Many to plant. Might plant a couple of hundred then take cuttings for the rest. How big of an area would you guys plant up.
DeleteI followed a blog where the blogger got her PhD from her research on willow as sustainable wind barrier and firewood in the Orkneys.
ReplyDeleteDo you know the name of the site? I've been trying to find some information written by people who've done it (but aren't trying to sell it! )
DeleteAlas, after she got her PhD, she left the Orkneys (the winds were just awful) and her current blog does not list old posts regarding willow.
DeleteThats a shame, never mind. Island life must be quite differnt to what we're used to.
DeleteDid some searching - found an old blog entry of hers you might enjoy: willow starts
DeleteThanks I'll have a look at that now. Made a phone call tonight and know someone who might have some cuttings I can have!
DeleteThanks again Kris, i learnt some stuff from that (like I never relised you could hit the cuttings in with a hammer!).
DeleteNo idea...but I'm really impressed with your plan!
ReplyDeleteJane x
Thanks! I'm going to do some for the whole homestead so everyone will know what I'm on about when I describe an area. Drawing is not my strong point!
DeleteLike Jane and Chris, it's not worth asking me but I am impressed too. I used to plant a conker in the garden of every new house we moved to and they grew like the clappers. I have the Sally Tree cuttings you sent me, they arrived two days ago and are soaking up some water in a bucket. One of the cuttings has already sprouted some little white nodules, amazing considering how long they have been inside an envelope and how far they have travelled!
ReplyDeleteGlad they made it and thanks for the video! I wouldn't bother with rooting compound as they will root really easily.
DeleteI wanted to plant a scotch bridgett apple tree at every house I lived in and so far I've done that but I don't plan on moving again so thats the end of that one. Conker trees do grow well but won't coppice so would have to be planted fresh each time.
I wonder if conker trees will grow in Angola? Hmmm. I am still keen on weeping willow though!
DeleteI cannot think what I could send back to you that is Angolan but would grow where you are. Apart from Liamba that is (Angolan weed...).
I think you need to plant lots of citrus and olives as well to take advantage of the hot weather over there. I've seen weeping willows everywhere since - bloody typical!
DeleteThanks for visiting my blog and commenting on the picture of our willows. I have put a list of the willows we planted on today's blog if it is of interest to you
ReplyDeleteGill
Hi Gill, thanks for the list - I've added a few questions for you on your blog! I'm going to go see a young plantation of willow this week so I'll probably post it up on here soon, they've planted over 700 last year and they'ev the same again to plant soon!
DeleteKev, only just read this...
ReplyDeleteI am using.... in the main... Crack Willow.
We had the trees on site... the five old pollards I've mentioned before.
Five year old offspring of these are currently 25cm diameter...
Older [eight years] are only 30cm... measured at chest height.
A return of wood every five years is feasible...
calorific return is around half that of ash or chestnut...
this means that you are getting five or six harvests for the same diameter logs of a higher rendition hardwood...
same applies for poplar...
to me, it is a no-brainer... grow the lighter woods for burning...
and shifting the logs is easier, too!