Fire

[AnnieB]

Hi all. Please can you advise me on the best way to dispose of brash etc when beginning to clear very neglected woodland. I am very nervous of burning but there is so much of it that trips to the local tip would take ages. Also ideas on safe fire pits for recreation would be most appreciated. Thanks all.

[vushtrri]

Just pile it up and let nature do the rest, it'll rot down eventually and become a home to thousands of creepy crawlies !

[Wendelspanswick]

We've had our wood for almost 2 years but have resisted the temptation to have a bonfire to burn brash, we've had plenty of camp fires but all our brash goes into dead hedging on our boundary's.

[oldclaypaws]

You've not said Annie B whether its conifer or deciduous. Never heard of anyone taking it to the tip, that won't be necessary, it can be used or disposed of on site.

If its conifer, it does take ages to rot as its resinous and it will need to be processed in some way. Deciduous offers easier options.

Whatever it is, anything over 1" can be chopped into logs and used for fuel, either sold or used yourself- that's usually the bulk of what's lying around. Its the smaller stuff can get in the way. Smaller deciduous bits put in a heap will rot within a year or two and be 'recycled' by insects and fungi into nutrients for the trees, the heap will quickly get lower and you can stomp on it occasionally to help break it up. After three years it'll have disappeared. No need to burn it, a little patience and it'll disappear while benefiting the woodland.

Conifer brash might need to be burnt. You'll need a clearing away from other trees. Chop it into small lengths, and if you're worried about damaging the ground, you can have a raised fire using something like a sheet of tin propped up on bricks so it doesn't scorch the ground. Alternatives are if you want to avoid fire, it could be made into a dead hedge to enhance privacy or some people might hire a chipper, reducing it to sawdust.

Don't get depressed or daunted, tidying a wood is quite satisfying and if you do it right it'll pay for itself in fuel and keep you fit while making the wood more accessible and less crowded.

[AnnieB]

Thank you very much for your replies. Will pile it as suggested!

[Dexter's Shed]

Hi all. Please can you advise me on the best way to dispose of brash etc when beginning to clear very neglected woodland. I am very nervous of burning but there is so much of it that trips to the local tip would take ages. Also ideas on safe fire pits for recreation would be most appreciated. Thanks all.

use it in a dead hedge, great if you have areas on boundaries that seem too open, use uprights around 2ft apart depth and 4ft apart length with a few woven bits at the bottom, then fill the middle up with all the brash, it provides a good fence, a good area for wildlife to live, and the brash slowly rots down, you loose around 12" per year, so can add to it as and when needed

this film shows ours in the background
https://youtu.be/MhSYp2oCHak

[Dexter's Shed]

or here's another showing the making in more detail,

https://youtu.be/664QwVLv6qQ

[smojo]

Make brash or "dead" hedges. A neat way of accommodating it. I made a short one this spring and two weeks later there was a blackbirds nest in it. Do wildlife a whole lot of good. I'm going to be putting some more up along some of my borders soon. Trouble with piling it is it seems to take up a lot of surface area. A few piles are fine but I like the hedge solution as it provides an actual function for me as well as wildlife.

[oldclaypaws]

If wanting dead hedging to last a bit longer, some species are better than others. I notice that oak and hazel brash decay quickly, they're gone in a year or two. Dead willow seems to hang about a lot longer, so where I've the odd gap in the hedge that's what I'll use to fill it.

[Terry]

As per previous answers, dead hedging, piles etc are all good solutions.
Removal from site also takes all the nutrients out of the local cycle of life. The plants and trees took up these nutrients from the ground and now that they have been cut down, these can be returned to the ground with the help of the wildlife to be used by the next generation of trees.

I noticed from your introduction that you aquired 'neglected' woodland adjacent to your paddocks.
Is the 'neglect' purely lack of human intervention?