greentree
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Tree species for sustainable woodWe are thinking of planting about half an acre of woodland for timber for the fire.
Can anyone recommend what to plant? We would like to have a mixture of species and manage it in a sustainable way.
Thanks!
Mick
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keithrawlins
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i am doing the same thing this winter . what i havefound is that willow, hazeland oak can all be coppiced, these are the main three i am going to use. i my plant beech as well just for a little autumn colour. 
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blowin
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I don't know how high Ash would rate in the commercial list of recommendations but I am planting some in the hedgerows with a view to coppicing them in a few years time . I think it is slower to grow than willow or the others you mention but it really is the most versatile firewood IMHO 
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wayland
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Great idea lads  . Willow seems the commertial preference. Wobern Abby uses copiced willow and has got a mechanised system to harvest it. How would you guys process your timber?
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chook
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We just cut down 2 willows planted as whips 11 years ago. Would have done it in winter but they were actually blocking our radiowave based internet connection  . The goats got a lot of browse out of that and the rest we cut up for firewood which we'll leave to season for a year (pallet and raincover). Surprising amount of wood out of 2 young trees, I guess about 1/3 of a cubic metre. What the goats leave behind will become kindling once it's dry.
Another fast (triffid-like) grower is alder (Alnus glutinosa). I planted some in 2000 and some of the trunks are 8-10" in diameter already and unbelievably tall for only 9 growing seasons. They too can be coppiced.
chook
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wayland
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Interesting comments on the Alder. I have a run of mature trees which need a bit of thinning and was thinking of planting some Willow for copicing in their place. Perhaps it will be a better idea to just copice the Alder as they are well established and would re-establish themselves in no time. The lower boundry to my veg plot is water logged with no prospect of growing anything but water cress. So am thinking of growing some copicing Willow there which may help dry the land a bit. I have a good stand of basket willow growing there <thanks to Mr Blowin>, which seems to love the wet conditions. So I am hoping a copicing veriety will do as well. I will need to locate a good veriety for this.
Cheers.
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lofty
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we burnt some alder there last year wouldnt be great as a fuel i suppose what else do you plant in wet ground. has anybody compared willow to alder as a fuel
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lofty
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We planted 5 acres of ash sycamore silver birch and oak as part of one of those forestry grants. That was five years ago now and the ash,silver birch and oak have done very well up to 14 feet high. The sycamore i wouldnt plant again an absolute disaster. Alot have had to be replaced with alder they didnt take off at all alot depends on the ground they are going on to
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chook
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| lofty wrote: | | we burnt some alder there last year wouldnt be great as a fuel i suppose what else do you plant in wet ground. has anybody compared willow to alder as a fuel |
I can't say to have practical experience comparing the two. Both willow and alder are pretty low on the list re energy content. According to lists of energy content of firewood Alder is a touch better than willow but both are only about 2/3 of the more desirable species such as oak, beech, ash.
But then "Better a sparrow in your palm than a pigeon on the roof."
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blowin
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| lofty wrote: | | has anybody compared willow to alder as a fuel |
Not exactly a scientific comparison but my own experience suggests that willow is better than alder . It tends to be easier to handle - long straight whips with relatively few side branches so it is easy to drag and stack . Both are very easy to cut when green but willow has the slight advantage that its more gentle taper means you don't have to change tools so often .
I think that willow takes longer to season . In some ways that is an advantage because it holds its "body" for longer . Both of them lose most of their weight when really dry , at which point they burn very quickly without much heat . Both go almost to fluff in a few months if the damp and woodrot get to them .
At the back of my mind , tho' , I still have an unresolved problem which I posted up last year . I had a variety of logs in my woodpile and one of them produced a horribly acrid , eye-watering smoke . Not a problem if it goes straight up the chimney but our range frequently lets the smoke into the kitchen and it is not always funny . It has to be either birch , blackthorn or alder . I am pretty sure it wasn't birch but I couldn't tell the difference between the other 2 once the logs had been split and muddled up .
These results could easily be biased because the logs were cut at different times and stored in varying conditions so I hope that helps but suspect that it won't ! 
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wayland
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Sounds very much to me like Birch mate. Especially if it is still a bit green. The best wood IMHO is Ash but it is the sustainability of the timber as a crop that makes Willow a favourite. If Ash could grow like Willow then there would be no contest.
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