What are your favourite tree species and why

[smojo]

Mine is probably beech. It has such beautiful and architectural qualities. Wide smooth trunks with slim graceful boughs. Love the bright new green leaves in spring and the multicolours in autumn. Often the leaves stay on for quite a while in autumn. But it has a dark side too - isn't it called "the widow maker" because of it's tendency to drop branches without warning?

[oldclaypaws]

Tough one, can I name five or six? Runners up would have to be Hazel (Nuts / fuel / walking sticks) Goat Willow (Flowers/wildlife) Field Maple (lovely bark, pretty leaves) Sweet Chestnut (Nuts / Timber), Elder (fragrance, berries, wine), Crabapple (blossom, fruit, jelly) and everybody loves Oak, but I think I'll go for Birch. Its got such attractive bark, delicate little fluttering leaves, it grows in wild rugged places I love like Scotland & heathland, and (The Saxon in me coming out now) you can tap it to make beer from the sap.

[smojo]

Yep like all those too. No you can only choose one. By the way does birch seem to rot easily when it gets quite mature. There seems to be several fallen mature birches, even in my home town local woods.

[Lincswood]

For me, it's anything that has been standing for at least a century before I was born, and will still be around for well over a century after I've gone. The things they've seen, those trees...

[Dexter's Shed]

Yep like all those too. No you can only choose one. By the way does birch seem to rot easily when it gets quite mature. There seems to be several fallen mature birches, even in my home town local woods.

yup, we have a few mature silver birch that seem rotten and/or fallen over, my favourite has to be Hazel with oak being second, as our woods are mainly that, with a few other species thrown into the mix
as yet we have not had any hazel nuts, as those pesky squirrels eat them whilst they are still green, but I have made spoons and walking sticks from them, use them for firewood and dead hedging,

[smojo]

Hazel is one of my favourites too. Made couple of walking sticks from my local wood. Ironically I can't eat the nuts, even a hint of it in chocolates sets my throat and mouth itching like crazy.

[Woodsmith]

Sweet chestnut for me, majestic when mature with beautiful leaves and sweet nuts in the autumn. Brilliant timber, splits/rives straight and easily, and is rot resistant to a degree

[Bearwood]

Sweet chestnut for me, majestic when mature with beautiful leaves and sweet nuts in the autumn. Brilliant timber, splits/rives straight and easily, and is rot resistant to a degree

Ditto. Love the species. A firm favourite.

[oldclaypaws]

Just to comment on the downside of Sweet Chestnut so we don't pretend its a perfect species; Yes brilliant timber and some nuts in a good year, but; its not native and supports only a fraction of the wildlife trees like Oak or Hazel do. Its susceptible to various fungal diseases and damage by squirrels. The UK isn't quite warm enough to give the same quality of nuts as on the continent (its range in the UK is limited to the warmer Southern parts), and it casts a very heavy shade which blocks light from native ground flora. Very happy to have some, but only as a minority part of a bigger mix.

[smojo]

Read Ben Laws book about how he started out in his wood. He mentions sweet chestnut many times as good for coppicing. Might be tempted to plant a few just for that reason. How quickly does it grow?