Making a new coppice

[Darren]

I\'m pondering whether or not I should turn my woodland to a coppice.

Before WW2 the woods was a coppice named Great Copse. Then 46 years ago it was clear felled and replanted with Scots pine then 27 years ago half the woods was cleared of Scots and replanted with Spruce. The Scots of been thinned and now have various broadleafs growing amongst them. We also have a fare few Oaks around the woodland edge.

At the moment I\'m thinning out the pines to let the broadleaf have a chance.

What do you think? Is it a good idea to set up a coppice woods? Or should I just grow standards? What are the pros and cons?

[Binz]

HI Darren

imho i think growing standards amongst coppice is a good solution. You get the benefits of both, such as plenty of light to the woodland floor while having large mature trees for the wildlife that prefers that (and also have wood products from coppice and timber produced from standards). So it\'s a good balance where improving biodiversity also brings some financial return.

Having said that, a mature uncoppiced woodland does have a special atmosphere so you could leave an acre or 2 uncoppiced but managed as continuous cover forestry, maybe around your camping area?

this link has some basic management info, including pages on planting and coppice http://www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/woodland_manage/

and i just found this organisation for CCF, haven\'t looked at it in detail by they have just published a best practice guide (free download)

http://www.ccfg.co.uk/wordpress/

Binz

[tracy]

Mike Chapman from the High Weald unit specialises in this sort of thing, I have copied his advert from the February News letter below. If you are not in his area, I am sure he could point you in the right direction. Let us know how you get on and what he says, I am sure there are others who would want to know too!

Mike says:

High Weald Ancient Woodland Restoration Project

I work for the High Weald AONB, to advise landowners and managers on sustainable forestry

and woodland management.

My focus is on transforming conifer plantations on ancient woodland sites back into native

broadleaved woodland. I provide a FREE OF CHARGE advisory service that includes:

- A survey of the woodland that records remnants of the ancient woodland.

- A report describing the woodland including maps, aerial photos and soils information.

- An action plan of works to protect and enhance natural habitats.

- An outline of available grants and the information necessary to submit applications to the

Forestry Commission.

I also organise practical seminars for woodland owners to visit plantations that are being

restored and see the sort of work that is being undertaken.

For further details contact

Mike Chapman, Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites Officer

Tel: 01580 879 964

email: [email protected]

[Darren]

Thanks for the replies guys I\'ve just emailed Mike I\'ll let you know what he says.

[Darren]

Mike is going to meet up with me and a few of my neighbours and come up with a management plan. Mike is also going to research into the history of the woods.

[Chris]

You are going the right way by getting specialist advice, but one way to find out if coppice is a good idea in general for your wood is to see if there are any coppice species. In our wood, although we have a plantation of native broadleaves, there is some hazel from the original coppice coming through. Our plan in one area we want to convert is to make gaps in the canopy, particularly round the hazel, and let the coppice develop.

Other species than hazel and sweet chestnut can be run as coppice. We have ash and hazel coppice in some areas, and there are signs that whitebeam, field maple and beech (less usual) have been coppiced. I also know some coppice oak quite well, and I belive near London, hornbeam was coppiced in the past.

[Darren]

I got plenty of everything you have mentioned except beech which I believe doesn\'t grow on clay. Sounds like a good place to start.

Mike Chapman is coming to my woods on Friday I\'ll see what he says then.

[Darren]

Met Mike on Friday.

We walked around the woods and give me some good advice. He told me how to thin the spruce which have a gave me a few problems when thinning, as the ones that are left are blown over. What I need to do is fell the spruce around the boadleafs that pocket them.

He also showed me some ariel photo\'s of the woods in 1947 and compared it with photo\'s which was taken in 2005.

Mike is writing a report about the woods.

[mikepepler]

When I did my chainsaw training, some of it was in plantations that were being thinned to allow the chestnut and oak that were there originally to regenerate (there were still self-seeded ones struggling away under the cover of the pines). The goal in the wood was not to get rid of all the pines, but to finish up with a mixed woodland. I think pines on their own can be beautiful, it\'s just when you see a million together it doesn\'t look so nice...

[Darren]

I know what you mean Mike, it\'s dark in there and I\'ve been doing a lot of snedding so at lest I can work. It\'s going to be a slow process hopefully I\'ll be alive still to see the end result! Brought a 5 ton handwinch from ebay to help me fell the spruce as I will not have any room to fell them. Which will mean snagged trees, I tried it the other day and it nearly ripped the trees out of the ground.