Why Grow Trees:
There are many reasons to establish your own small woodland and there are no reasons not to. In fact if you ask anyone the only reason a farmer may throw up is "It makes the land no good for grazing" which is rubbish as a day with a machine would clear any roots from a forestry clearance and have the land fit for grazing in no more time or expense than if the machine was turning the ground for normal re-seeding. But the way things look like going in the future your land could be better growing wood than grass.
Years ago coppicing was a major part of the countryside because of the many uses of timber products, but this almost disappeared due to the cheapness of oil and its products. Now oil and other fossil fuels are no longer cheap and will increase dramatically in the next few years, so forestry and coppicing is again now a viable booming activity.
In Ireland most land users do not see the benefits of Timber as a crop just as vegetables and animals are, and think that it will be many years before a return will be seen from their outlay, but this is not true. Because the thinking for the past 40 years has been towards using the land in a way that the land user can obtain any grants which are available, it seems in some areas that they have forgot how to forward think and see what can be done without waiting for a grant. In some parts of Ireland a farmers view of trees is simply unbelievable and sees them more of a problem than something that can be of use never mind make him money, so any time a machine is near a tree, the tree is just torn down and burnt next time bonfire day comes around. Hedgerow trees are just hacked to pieces as nobody seems to see the benefit of making them in to a fence for animals and collecting the cut wood for their home fires. They prefer barbed wire and fence posts, spending all day feeding the midges in the bog while cutting turf.......sheer madness!
Growing Trees For Firewood:
With the massive fuel rises predicted in the next few years and the race for more efficient heating appliances like stoves and wood gasification boilers, the demand for firewood is going to rocket very soon. Firewood prices will rise with the increases in other fuel prices, and the increase of wood as a fuel will further strengthen any these price rises. So if you have land which can support forestry you could very soon be earning more from this land when growing timber for firewood than any other product from your land.
Wood is clean, carbon neutral and renewable so acceptable as a fuel to use for all energy needs. There is no need to wait to see if you are eligible for grants as your market for firewood is already there and there will be massive increases in this market in the next few years, and that is not including the increase in other products that timber can be used for as any increase in oil will also increase prices in other man made products so the switch back to timber for these products will also accelerate.
Growing for firewood (fuel) does not mean waiting until the trees have reached their full growth after 20 - 30 years. Growing for fuel means coppicing and that means regular harvesting and encouraging the tree to improve growth and not killing the tree at harvesting.
Growing for fuel means you are in complete control of your product, which is not the case with animal products and vegetable crops. With animal products organisations are set up to take money from your product before it gets near the end user and the farmer/producer only gets a fraction of the end price which is usually not even enough to make it viable. Vegetable crops are similar and end user sales have to be within days because the crop deteriates. With coppicing wood for fuel it doesn't need any middlemen processors or red tape to take away the profits from the end user sales and there are no reasons why any could ever be introduced as timber is safe and has an extremely long shelf life which requires no expensive storage costs.
Planting land for forestry in Ireland is frowned on by some as they say the land is ruined for ever. This can be true with some forestry organisations who just rip the land up for drainage and planting purposes. Ripping the land up this way brings sub soil and stones/rock to the surface, mixed up with the top soil the land could never be used for grazing or growing of any crops ever again. This type of forestry was usually done for the grants which were available for some forestry planting and should only ever have been applied to poor land.
Planting & Coppicing Ash Trees For Firewood:
Ash grows fairly straight with the minimum of branches which are usually at the top so besides being a timber that takes minimum drying it is also a timber that can take minimum processing to get it to a saleable product which is and will even more so in great demand as fuel.
Planting forests/woods for coppicing can be done and is done in a way that the land can be used afterwards for the growing of crops and grazing. There is no ripping of the land with this method which is to just turn the top soil over (turning a sod) or loosening the top soil with the bucket of a small digging machine only where the tree is to be planted. This is done by the smallest of diggers as it is only light work by digging or loosening the top soil every 2 metres or what ever your tree spacings are to be in straight parallel lines and planting your young trees (whips) in the loosened top soil. (2 metre spacings for Ash grown for firewood is what was recommended by an experienced English coppicer). This method brings no sub soil or stone/rock to the surface so the land could easily be returned to grazing and cultivation if required. You can just walk along with a spade and plant the whips the old way, but if you have a small machine for a day and they are cheap to hire now it makes the job so much easier, is better for the trees to establish themselves and allows you to move obstructions or adjust things easier as well. Planting whips with a spade is perfectly acceptable, but there are those who say trees will grow better if more care is taken when planting, so loosening the soil so the roots can grow easier makes sense as the first year of your young tree's life will be spent establishing a good root system which is essential.
For around the first four years, the grass and vegetation around your young trees has to be controlled otherwise this will grow over your young trees and restrict their growth or distort their growth so you will not get nice straight trees. The controlling of the vegetation can be done by spraying with applicable weedkiller that does not affect trees or it can be done manually. One problem growth is that of briars or blackberry bushes which can be spread by seed and grow along the ground and up and over the young trees causing lots of problems. If you do not want to use chemicals then you will have a job for a sharp large knife/blade. If trying to use a bush cutter or strimmer, you must not go near the young trees otherwise you could chop them down very easily and or damage the bark. As the trees get bigger their expanding foliage will restrict light to the ground and reduce the ground vegetation so this problem goes away, also the trees foliage is above the ground vegetation by this time and grows unrestricted with the tree also stronger than the ground vegetation.
You must not let your trees dry out in a prolonged dry spell for the first few years. This will stunt their growth or kill them as for the first few years your trees are developing their root system instead of growing, so any drying out will seriously affect them. It would be a good idea any way to have plenty of water nearby just in case of drought or fires. You can as well feed your trees to encourage growth, this can be done by just applying selected fertiliser around the base of the trees. Your fertiliser can range from garden manure to rock phosphate and other fertilisers suitable for trees.
Rabbits and hares can devastate a young woodland and will nibble the young trees down to ground level and kill them. Other grazing animals will do the same such as sheep and deer. You must control these animals or lose your entire crop. Your young trees will only be safe when they are above those animals grazing height but even then these animals can attack your trees by eating the bark from them, this will also kill your trees at any age. The bark of a tree is like your skin, damage it and they will get infected or die.
After 10 - 12 years your trees if Ash may be at the right age for coppicing for firewood. This being the size where they need the minimum of splitting if any, so at a diameter of around 3" to 6". This is a great size for logs to burn efficiently in the latest modern gasification type stoves and boilers. These require wood that can be burnt efficiently, big solid smoldering logs are not needed so you grow your trees to the required diameter then coppice them.
Cutting is best done by two people for safety reasons and those people should have received the appropriate training in this procedure.
Cutting should be done in early to mid winter and when cutting the tree it should be done at a slight angle so any rain water can run off the stumps. How far up from the ground you cut is open to you but if it is too low and rabbits or hares and other animals will take a great liking to your new tree shoots on the tree next spring and kill it. This is what you do not want to happen so the height you cut at must be above those animals grazing height for safety.
When your tree re-shoots itself you will see many shoots and these hopefully will grow in to other harvestable branches so increasing your original trees wood production which will also be available in a shorter period this time as when planting the original tree the first couple of years the tree spends developing a good root system. This is already established now so the tree just puts its energy in to producing wood above the ground so increasing the yield in a shorter time period for you. Maybe 7 years this time could be your harvestable firewood time but your new growth may be thinner in diameter than the original tree was when cut.
When you cut your trees the ground vegetation will spring to life again so this may have to be kept in check which is another factor in cutting height regarding the original tree.
Which Trees For Firewood & Timber?:
If you have bad land which may be wet then spruce will most probably be suitable as they are a fast grower and have many uses. Spruce when harvested does require drying before use but has many uses.
Willow is a very fast producer of usable wood which can be harvested regularly for chipping for use in wood boilers. Willow can also be grown in wet land but this land has to be accessible for people and machinery to complete the regularly harvesting. Problems associated with this wood when it is used for fuel is that it requires a lot of drying before it could ever be used, this requires energy and takes some of the benefits of its use.
Another fast growing tree which can be harvested regularly for logs and chipping for use in wood boilers but again requires drying before use as fuel though it can be air dried over 12 months.
The "queen" of woods. If you have good ground then Ash is perfect as it is good in its amount of growth but it has the advantages of a excellent heat value output and requires the minimum of drying before use so can be ready for sale in the shortest times after harvesting. Also Ash trees are ideal for coppicing and produce more timber from the tree each year if done correctly.
Because of the excellent heat value of Ash for fuel it makes this wood a supreme timber to coppice for fuel returning excellent crops which require the minimum of drying and it is a great wood for air drying so requiring no more energy usage in the process and Ash logs are and will always be in demand everywhere and increasingly more so in the future as people move over to more efficient solid fuel heating systems for which Ash logs and chipping's are perfect.
Trees For Food:
Yes you can eat trees. Well indirectly you can. Plant and grow trees which can provide you food in the form of nuts and also for animal feed.
Hazel, Sweet Chestnut, Walnut, are just a few of the trees that can be grown for food for yourself or to feed animals. In fact there is very few trees which cant be harvested in this way as pigs love acorns from Oak trees and not forgetting Rowan berries for Rowan jelly and other products. Also the old Sally Willow is a perfect fodder crop for sheep and cattle.
As already said in Ireland farmers seem not to see the benefit of trees for their animals and appear to think that a clear billiard table field is much preferred by their livestock than leaving the natural sally trees and other hedgerow trees in and along the borders of their fields. So do not take any trees out of your land, by all means tidy them up but most importantly plant many more along the boundaries and on any bare patches where these trees can provide you with food in the form of nuts, animal feed in the form of nuts, leaves, and fresh green growth, wood products in the form of basket making, fencing, craft making etc, and also a natural boundary in the form of a hedge which will be just as good as any barbed wire or sheep fence, and also encouraging and harbouring wild life which will help keep down the pest species which may attack your other tree crops and food crops.
To Be Continued...........
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