Coppicing

[Anonymous]

Hi, New member here, I moved from the Uk over a year ago to Italy to buy a house with a fair amount of land (about 30 acres). most of it is farmed out, but we wish to take some of it back so that we can plant some trees, say Ash trees to eventually Coppice and use for firewood.

We don't know how much land we will need, we have assumed around 2 acres, and also don't know how far apart to plant them also how long before the first crop can be cut.

Any help out there will be greatly appreciated

wol

[opabinia51]

Check out the Permaculture thread in the Wildlife gardening section.

Also, what sort of trees are you planning on planting? You'll want to keep that in mind. Walnut trees will reach height of 40-60 feet and they secrete a chemical called Juglone that inhibits the growth of other plants so, if you want ot plants Walnuts, Plant them in what would be designated as Zones 3 to 5 (basically, towards the back of your planting area.

Take the eventual tree heights into consideration as far as spacing is concerned. As recommended from a well experienced gardener that I once worked for, when planting a tree, always dig the whole twice as deep and twice as wide as the root ball. Then, back fill with manure and leaf mulch, plant the tree and cover with soil and more manure and leaf mulch.

Ash trees will eventually reach a height of 50 to 60 feet with spacing of 20 to 30 feet. Though, if you just want to use them as firewood, you probably won't wait long enough for them to get that high.

If you want to coppice the trees, from what I have read, you would cut the trees to the ground to allow vigorous growth. So, you would probably want at least 20 - 30 feet such that the trees will have enough room to grow.

With the property that you have, it would be a good idea to plant some food bearing trees and shrubs as well.

[The Helpful Gardener]

What genus are we talking when we say ash? That's usually Fraxinus here in the States, but I know that can mean Sorbus on the Continent. Our ash would be better as the wood will burn while still green so if firewood is your thing...

HG

[Anonymous]

I plan to use Ash trees, (not sure what strain) as they grow easily up here at 2500 ft. I am told that they also grow very quickly but don't know how long they will take to grow back after coppicing.

wol

[grandpasrose]

Hi Wol! The list of deciduous trees that I found that are supposed to be good for coppicing are: Scots Elm, Ash, Willow, Hazelnut, Chestnut, and Hornbeam. I'm not sure what the growth rate is on all of these, but I know that Elms are fairly fast growers, as are Ash and willow.
Val

[The Helpful Gardener]

Especially willow!