Coppicing is a very ancient traditional method of woodland management, all hard wood trees will re-generate to a certain extent if cut and we can take advantage of this to provide us with a sustainable source of timber for a whole range of tasks. We can probably thank the longevity of our native ancient woodland to hundreds of years worth of management but now it is easy to find woodland that I would class as derelict, which has not been sympathetically managed for many years and which certainly wouldn't be productive as a commercial coppice woodland but also does not support the same level of wildlife as it might if managed properly.
A sign of unmanaged woodland, scars where trees have rotted all the way down the ground, including their roots. |
An old hazel 'stool' that has recently been coppiced. The caut faces should be angled to allow water to run off so it doesn't pool on the stool and encourage rot. |
Plenty of useful material can be harvested from each coppice stool. |
Species
|
Normal
Habitat and Distribution
|
Uses
|
Alder
(Alnus glutinosa)
|
Damp
ground, wet woodland, marsh and water courses.
|
Durable
when wet, traditionally coppiced for charcoal and gun powder
production. The wood has also been used for sluice gates and
pipes.
|
Ash
(Fraxinus
excelsior)
|
One
of the most common trees in Britain and common throughout Europe
as well. One of the dominant canopy species in a lot of lowland UK
woodlands.
|
Coppiced
for firewood and charcoal, makes excellent tool handles as it is
shock resistant and very strong. It burns green due to the oil
content in the wood.
|
Beech
(Fagus sylvatica)
|
A
species of free draining chalky soils, where there is a lot of
beech there is often very little growing beneath the canopy as the
dense carpet of leaves and nut husks and the shade of the dense
canopy suppresses most other growth.
|
Fuel,
furniture making, tool handles, the nuts are edible and beech
trees were often planted to mark boundaries. They are now also
often used as hedge plants.
|
Birch;
Downy (Betula
pubesence),
Silver (Betula
pendula)
|
The
two British Birch species are very similar and often hybridize.
The Downy Birch is more common in Scotland but both are common in
down and heath land and are among the first tree species to
colonize grassland and scrub-land which will eventually revert to
woodland.
|
Birch
is one of the bushcrafters friends, the bark from these trees
makes excellent tinder but was also once used to tan leather.
|
Blackthorn
(Prunus spinosa),
Common Hawthorn (Cretaegus
monogyna) and
Midland Hawthorn (Cretaegus
laevigata)
|
All
thorny species yielding edible flowers and fruit. And commonly
planted in hedgerows.
|
Walking
sticks and tools, charcoal and woodwork. The wood of all these
species is incredibly hard and tough.
|
Elm
(Ulmus sp.)
|
We
have a number of elm species in the UK the English Elm, Smooth
Leaved Elm, and Wyche Elm. All have suffered to one degree or
another from Dutch Elms Disease but are now most commonly found in
hedgerows and some woodlands, there are very few large mature elms
left anywhere in the UK.
|
From
a bushcraft perspective the bark can be put to use as cordage and
containers. The wood is particularly touch and useful in
applications which bring it in contact with water. It has been
used to make pipes and also in turnery and woodwork.
|
Hazel
(Corylus
avellana)
|
One
of the most commonly coppices species it is found throughout the
UK in lowland areas often forming dense stools.
|
Thatching
spars, hurdles,
|
Lime
(Tilia sp.)
|
Common
to lowland Britain and present throughout most of the Northern
hemisphere , it is very rare to find woodland dominated by lime
today. Limes prefer moist but well drained soils.
|
Exceptionally
good for carving and the bark makes excellent string. Lime sprouts
strongly at the base with or without coppicing producing long
strait stems which can easily be harvested.
|
Oak;
Sessile (Quercus patrea) and Pendunculate or English (Quercus
robur)
|
These
species are superficially similar and do hybridize, they can be
distinguished by the shorter leaf stalks and long acorn stalk of
the English Oak.
|
Oak
was traditionally a building timber, boats, gates and beams for
building. It is also used in expensive furniture and flooring.
The
bark is used in leather tanning and the wood burns long and hot
for excellent cooking fires.
|
Sweet
Chestnut (Castanea
sativa)
|
An
introduction to the UK (probably during the Roman occupation) but
planted extensively since the 18th
Century.
|
The
species coppices easily and is useful for building, fencing and
green wood crafts.
|
Sycamore
(Acer
pseudoplatanus)
|
Another
introduction to the UK but common enough to be very important to
people who spend time in the UK woods.
|
Sycamore
can be coppiced easily and for those concerned with the spread of
a non-native species coppicing it does prevent it from setting seed.
It does produce useful wood for craft projects.
|
Willow
(Salix sp.)
|
There
are many species of willow in the UK and all favor wet habitats.
|
Willow
produces soft wood some of which is durable and the larger species
can be used for traditional crafts, cricket bats are traditionally
made from Willow. Willow coppice can be used to produce withies.
And for weaving and basketry.
|
I hope you've enjoyed this introduction to coppicing, there will be more to come on the topic of woodland management over the next few days.
Geoff
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.