Coniferous woodland advice

[Cassie]

Hello

I have recently purchased a small coniferous woodland only 1.5 acres, is it ok for me to start felling 5 cubic metres per quarter providing I do not sell more than 2, are there any other restrictions ? there are no TPO's in place and I will obviously check there are no birds nesting in the trees, the woodland is about 35 years old & to my knowledge has never been managed it was planted by the Water authorities for timber yield but has never been used for this purpose. It is very dense & I would like to open up the woodland floor allowing much more daylight in encouraging regeneration and eventually introduce native species.

If I applied for a thinning licence what % should I be looking at and if the licence is approved would I still be allowed the 5 cubic metres per quatrer on top of the thinning licence?

I would appreciate your advice

Many thanks

[tracy]

Hi Cassie

Congrats on your new woodland! Before we begin to help you - what country are you in? England, Wales or Scotland (or France!)

It really is too late in the season to do any felling now. Your little birds are going to be next building and settling in -and that means you get to spend some more time in your woodland and perhaps walk through it with some people to get more ideas.

Letting light in, is definitely a good way to go!

Enjoy it

Tracy

[Cassie]

Hi Tracy

We are in Derbyshire, we would never disturb a birds nest, at present the tops of the trees are completely visable, we also intend get in touch with the Forestry dept for advice

Many thanks

[Twybill]

Hi Cassie

It depends what you want to do with the wood.

If the idea is to slowly get rid of the conifers and replace with native broadleaves, then rather than thin out why not clear cut an area and replant with broadleaves. With such a smallish acreage I wouldn't bother with a felling licence but just work away at the 5cu metres each quarter. I think you would be suprised how many trees you can fell before you breach that limit. Without knowing the size of your trees it is difficult to assess but with drawn up 35 year old trees you may well get rid of the lot within a couple of years.

A felling licence to thin could take 3 months to get with all the paperwork, visits etc. If you did apply for this, provided you can justify what you are doing, mark as many trees as you feel able. You would not need to worry about the 5 cu then. You can get this licence for up to 5 years so no need to think everthing has to be cut straight away.

If you apply for a felling licence (ie not a thinning licence) there will be an obligation placed on you by the Forestry Commission to replant (no requirement to do this with a thinning licence).

You mention there are no TPO's but just check you are not in a Conservation Area. If you are, you have to give 6 weeks notice to the local authority before you can go ahead.

Hope this helps. Any more queries just ask.

[Cassie]

Thanks for the useful information Twybill, we are fortunate enough to have the woods at the rear of our garden and hope to use the logs as fuel reducing our extortionately high coal bills, we would like to start as soon as possible so that the wood can be seasoned your suggestion of just going with the 5 cubic metres seems to be the way forward for now, is the process of producing wood pellets an option or doess the space needed and price of the equipment not make it viable, it's just that the majority of logs will be soft wood.

Another reason for thinning the woods is to let more light onto our property which has slowly become a problem over the past years.

I would appreciate your advice Many thanks

[woodlander]

Hello Cassie

Costs of pelleting would be prohibitive on this scale but dont be put off burning softwood logs there is a great deal of twaddle recited about burning softwood as long as you give it a good 18 months to dry and mix with some hardwood it will give more heat than hardwood alone OK it does not last as long but it's great for lighting the fire .

The Nordic countries ,who know about keeping warm, prefer softwood I have been burning Sitka with hardwood for many years can't beat it for warming the house quickly .Might be an idea to keep some of the softwood trees longer term with the spread of Phytophora and climate change we need to keep our woods as diverse as possible .

[Twybill]

Hello Cassie,

Don't forget to replant as you fell. Conifers will not coppice so your resource will slowly diminish. Maybe plant Ash which grows quickly and makes good coppice and burns well?

[Cassie]

Thank you Woodlander & Twybill your advice is greatly appreciated