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.