Many uses for cut wood

When I was working with the Sussex Conservation Corps managing the coppice woodland at West Dean Woods we always used to burn all of the branches and wood that we were not going to sell as firewood. This is usual woodland management practice as it keeps the woodland floor clear and means that the rotting wood cannot act as a reservoir for disease in the woodland trees.

However burning the wood is not very natural (although a big bonfire is great fun!), so now in the woodland I am taking a more natural approach to try and maximise the habitats that a small copse can provide.

The larger pieces of wood that have knots in them so are not suitable for firewood I am making into piles dotted around the woodland. These will gradually rot down and I hope provide a great habitat for wood boring insects as well as a damp dark place for amphibians such as frogs, toads and newts.

The smaller branches (the brash) are being piled in high mounds running down the hill within the woodland. These piles provide a great over-wintering place for insects and somewhere for the hedgehogs to hibernate that is secluded and dry. They break up the woodland floor to give shelter, although I am not sure that I want to encourage the muntjac deer as over-grazing is such a problem in woodlands now (I read that there are now more deer in England than at any time sine the medieval).

The branch piles are a great place for robins and other low nesting birds to live. Over time they will rot down to provide a good invertebrate habitat.

The final use for wood is the larger pieces, which I take out for firewood. This will season (dry) through the summer and provide our heating and hot water next winter. The log stacks are kept off the wet ground by cross timbers so that they do not rot, and a rough shelter of corrugated iron and tarpaulins keeps the rain off while letting plenty of breeze through to start the drying process.

Coppicing and Pollarding

Working in  the woodland I am using different techniques for the different types of tree:

1) Leave to grow
The future high canopy trees such as Oak,  Beech, and Ash are being left to grow, along with the slow growing trees such as Holly, Wayfaring tree, Crab Apple and Spindle.

2)  Cut down
The Birch trees have sheltered the woodland as it has grown. They are now 30 to 40 feet high and the tallest trees in the wood, so cutting them down gives space and light for the others to grow. This also gives excellent and easily split firewood for next winter. The Birch stumps will not regrow.

3) Coppice
The hazel is being coppiced. Each trunk, or ‘stool’ is being cut at about 6 inches off the ground and will regrow with multiple shoots to give a mid canopy in the woodland.

4) Pollarding
The willow, which is nearly as tall as the birch, is being pollarded - cut off at about 4 feet from the ground (ideally it should be a couple of feet higher, but I am nervous of using a chainsaw at this height). Pollarding evolved to prevent cattle eating the new shoots, and although this is not an issue in the woodland I thought that a combination of coppicing and pollarding would create variety.

5) Bending over
To create the lowest canopy level I am ‘bending over’ the thorn trees. This is the same technique as used when laying a hedge. The upper branches are cut off, and the branches on the side which will be on the ground are also removed. The trunk is then cut through about two-thirds at the base and the whole thorn bush is then pushed to the ground. The trunk still needs to slope slightly upwards for the tree to survive. The thorn trees are about 20 feet high so battling with the spikes is my least favourite job!

Coppicing in the Woodland - Compartment 3.

I am in compartment 3 of the woodland, thinning out the trees to create several different layers in the tree canopy. Coppicing is an old form of woodland management which used to be used to produce hazel wands for hurdle and peg making. There is more information about coppicing here. The Trust for Conservation Volunteers (TCV) has a 'how to do it' guide here. The cycle of cutting and growth creates a varied habitat and allows light onto the woodland floor so that plants can grow. The regrowth of the trees gives a diversity of habitats.

Coppicing involves cutting the hazel about 6 inches off the ground to form a stool in which each stem is cut at 45 degrees facing outwards, so that water runs away and does not rot the stump.

Last autumn I put woodland flower seed into the area that I was planning to cut this winter - to give them maximum light in the newly-cut area next spring. So it will be interesting to see if this establishes the plants for next summer, as putting seeds into shady woodland is not that successful.

Coppicing in progress (Compartment 1)

After 1 year (compartment 2) the shoots are about 5 or 6 feet tall.

Coppice 1 year after cutting (Compartment 2)

After 2 years the growth is 10 to 12 feet tall and the ideal height for a great habitat for insects and birds. There are going to be 8 compartments so this area will grow for another 6 years before being cut again.

Coppice 2 years after cutting (Compartment 1)

As well as coppicing I am cutting down about half of the silver birches that have been acting as the 'nursery trees', growing fast and tall which gives protection to the rest of the trees. Taking out these tall silver birch trees will enable the slower growing oak, ash and beech to have more light and space (as well as providing me with heating for next winter!). I am keeping half of the silver birch as they provide shape when looking at the woodland and give a variety of habitats - there seem to be a lot of nests in the silver birch branches, where the twins seem denser than in many of the other trees.

New Year's resolution 2020 - Reinstate the blog!

OK. So New Year's resolution 2020 is to reinstate the 'Woodland and Wildflower Meadow' blog.
The clearance around the pond mentioned in my last post was now some time ago, so I thought that this would be good place to start. In early 2018 I dug out the pond, which had become very silted up as the inlet from the stream (which is actually more of a farmland run-off ditch) is upstream of the pond - which means that debris and silt coming down the stream settles in the pond. So I used the diggings to create an upstream dam so that the water in the pond is now a back flow through a porous bank which I have planted with yellow iris (the porous bank is on the right of the photo). Hopefully this will act as a filter and mean that there is less sediment in the pond in future.

I have also raised the water level in the pond a few inches by putting in a dam. Although, as you may be able to see, there is water coming under the dam at present and I need to puddle in some clay to seal it.

The green in the pond is grass - which has gained a foothold as the last two summers have been so dry. I was hoping that once waterlogged it would die off - but it actually looks very healthy. Maybe I will have to get the waders on to pull it up, which does not sound like a very pleasant winter task!

The majority of the bank around the pond still has cover for animals and I have made log piles as shelter for frogs, toads and newts.