Stacking wood on a freshly felled cant

[Rich]

I took down about half a ha of sweetchestnut in a very difficult to access cant last winter. Despite my best efforts, I seem to have an enourmous amount still lying there. Does anyone know if, from a biodiversity point of view, it would do any harm to leave it on the ground for another season. I'm thinking of the bluebells and other plants and seeds that won't get any light under these stacks.

Just a reminder if anyone is kicking their heels over the bank holiday weekend. SWOG will be at Westonbirt Arboretum for the festival of the tree. Do pop in for a chat and a cuppa if you're in the area.

Cheers

Rich

[ncrawshaw]

Firstly, I am not an expert! However, when I purchased my woods about 2 1/2 years ago about an acre of sweet chestnut had been coppiced the previous winter and all the wood just left lying around - tons and tons of it. It took us a good year or so to clear it all up and no lasting damage has been done. There is lots of undergrowth and the chestnuts are thriving too. I think bluebell bulbs will survive under the soil till the conditions are OK again, anyway I find they always come up again even if they have to struggle through some bits of wood.

[Toby Allen]

I'm sure it makes good habitat, but it is your wages laying there. Not to mention running costs, fuel, saws, lunch and so on.

Cutting the trees down is the easy bit, getting them out and selling them is a bit trickier.

Have you tried asking round a few local firewood or fencing contractors to see if they'd consider getting it out for you, or even better buying it.

Hows it presented?

[Dennis]

Stacking is the best approach. Look at this video which includes comments on the topic: http://www.woodlands.co.uk/tv/2010/10/managing-woodland-for-fuel-and-diversity/

If you look at this blog (also linked under the Resources tab on this site) http://peplers.blogspot.com/ you would find stuff about stacking and cutting during the coppicing seasons over the last few years.

[Rich]

You're not wrong Toby! The trouble with this cant is access, it was pretty overstood and I only got access by cutting a ride, building a bridge and climbing a steep hill. I can only get to it with an 8x5 trailer, turning round I have to run through to the other end of the wood where I've cleared a bit of a turning space. Each trip takes about half an hour, that's without loading time, so there's not that many people apart from myself who'd be prepared to go to such effort.

It's all a bit of a labour of love, but it's given my plenty of opportunities to learn some new skills. Cleaving 7 and 8 foot palings for a deer fence was like wrestling an aligator, I only thought of putting a longer handle on my froe once I'd finished!

https://picasaweb.google.com/108035491038199654438/KeepersDeerFence?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6vkaOj7Y3MSg

[Toby Allen]

Brilliant, looks like a fun job. Has it kept the deers out?

[Rich]

Well you'd like to think 8ft fencing would keep them out, but here on the edge of Ashdown forest we have a mutant variety with extra springy legs, they seem to have bred to plague proportions and will do almost anything to get into our veg garden and and even worse pinch Penny's roses!

Again I think the main problem is the general public's ignorance of the issues, although we're going to cull a few out this year, most of the land owners on the forest don't see them as a problem, if they don't coppice, use firewood or have somehow managed to avoid hitting them on the road!