Woodland Custodianship

[slowworm]

See that thick ivy stem ? if you cut a bit off it and split it, that'll dry out well and it makes a great hearth board for a firebow

I've been wondering about this. I have loads of ivy and some large trees down covered in the stuff so I'll be cutting it off whilst logging the trees.

At what size does it become useful? I have some ivy stems probably 6" diameter but most around 3". Would that make a good hearth and does ivy split or does it need sawing?

Also, is there any demand for it? Not to sell but if I have several boards made up I could pass them onto someone who uses them.

 

[Toddy]

I find it splits fairly easily...if it's fresh. Let it dry out and it's a pain to get it apart. A bit like fomes that way.
Three / four inches wide is ample. I am using a piece just now as a hearth board and it's so narrow that I can really only use one side of it, but it's still good

I have no idea about demand, I think most folks would struggle to get their hands on ivy stems thick enough to use like this, but I'm pretty sure you'd have takers if offered.

I think we all end up trying different combinations, different timbers and tools and methods. We like to know and it's a good excuse to try making fire

 

[Code 4]

Finished the fencing on Tuesday and just in time as no one is moving about now. Dare I say it but I could do with a drop of rain down now.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iJgZB3]cop1 by kymco kid, on Flickr[/URL]

Cuttings have taken and we had a good drop of rain last night. Always a great feeling when you start off a new Coppice like this.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iMHwjx]willowa060420 by kymco kid, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iMFS5T]willow060420 by kymco kid, on Flickr[/URL]

 

[Broch]

I have finally got around to getting quotes for insurance for the wood. It's just short of 15 acres and I wanted public liability (to cover people walking through and camping in the wood as well as if a branch falls on a trespasser) and employee liability (you need that for anyone working under your instruction, even volunteers).

The first two quotes came in at £280 (not too bad) and £650! Then I contacted NFU who cover my house and my Land Rovers - to add the public liability to my house insurance was £11/month so I've gone for that for now and I need to think carefully about the rest. As soon as you go for the cover for volunteers it's treated as a business it would appear and comes under corporate insurance

 

[Broch]

On a lighter note I thought I'd update on where I am with the bio-diversity survey. Part of our management plan requires us to log, as much as possible, what we have there so that change can be monitored. We've had the wood for three years now but we're still only scratching the surface. I haven't started on bugs other than noting the odd obvious ones, I've not formally logged all the birds either - however, we are making good progress on the plants; we seem to find a new one each time we go down including, recently, Yellow Archangel and Moschatel.

So far we have recorded:
15 species of tree
65 species of plant including 23 species classified as Ancient Woodland Indicator Species

This will be an ongoing task till the day I can no longer walk in the wood

 

[Broch]

As some of you will have seen on another thread, I have built a moth trap as part of my biodiversity surveying. Over just a few nights I have recorded 28 species of large moths (I just can't deal with the micro-moths). Last night's catch included the lovely Buff-tip shown below - it looks just like a birch twig!

Anyway, the point of the post: the moth trap has cost about a fiver plus some scrap materials. If anyone wants the design, including the circuit for the light source, drop me a PM.

 

[Broch]

I thought some of you may be interested in these on-line sessions run by the Small Woods Association:

<
February 18, 7-8pm: Firewood: The New Regulations. Small Firewood Producer Workshop.

February 19, 11am: PAWS and Ancient Woodland Management – Martin Hugi (Outreach Manager, Woodland Trust) is coming along to talk about best practise when managing ancient woodland sites, and restructuring on PAWS.

February 23, 11am-1pm: Tree Health Policy Options Workshops. Tree health grants and the potential for collective application.

February 25, 7pm: WoodsMeet – Natural regeneration vs tree planting, native vs non-native. We are looking for your views on woodland creation and expansion. Come along and help us unravel these issues.

February 26, 11am-3pm: Protecting our Oak Woodlands. In partnership with Action Oak, we have invited a great range of speakers to discuss everything, from best practise management of oak woodlands, oak pests and disease, all the way through to why it is important as a timber product.

March 4, 11am: Where have all the flowers gone? How much of an impact do herbivores have on our ground flora? Kate Holl, from NatureScot, travelled across Europe with a Churchill Fellowship visiting woodlands that have very few large herbivores, observing first hand the abundance of flowers and biodiversity

March 11, 11am: Managing sub-contractors in your woodland.

To take part in any of the events above, contact us quoting the session you are interested in
>

 

[TLM]

I thought some of you may be interested in these on-line sessions run by the Small Woods Association:

At least the topics sound interesting. Have you heard them before and what was your opinion?

 

[Broch]

I have participated in a couple of their on-line sessions and I have attended some of their seminars over the last few years (they are about an hour away from me). As always with these things, being an expert in a subject does not guarantee good presentation skills but the ones I have participated in have been informative.

I'm afraid they're a bit UK-centric though

 

[TLM]

I'm afraid they're a bit UK-centric though

Being an UK institution that is always the hazard.

 

[Tributary]

Afternoon all, I was kindly directed here from my intro post, so I'm happy to see how many folks here are custodians of our precious woods. I've just joined a group of fellow owners of a woodland not far from where I live, and have owned another woodland in the National Forest for eight years.

I think the term 'custodian' is a very pertinent way to describe woodland ownership, especially with the challenges facing broadleaf woodland in the present day. When trying to explain my choice to purchase woodland with this in mind, I'm often met with blank or quizzical expressions from those beyond the scope of this forum and others like it!

 

[Redhand Jack]

I was given permission to use about an acre and a half of woodland earlier this year and this thread is a gold mine of useful information and thought provoking discussion, thanks @Broch

 

[Broch]

It's been a while since I posted on here, mainly because there has been little change and partially because most of my time has been spent on the Shepherd's Hut. However, I thought some of you may be interested in the progress made on the coppicing.

I had given up on my coppicing plan because I could not keep the sheep out and they were destroying all new growth. They seem to prefer new hazel and ash growth to any other vegetation and it was infuriating to see any new growth grazed away. After a couple of years of all growth being removed I feared the old stools would die. However, we finally have progress - I'm afraid I had to resort to the threat of legal action, pointing out that as far as I was concerned the coppice was a crop and I would seek damages. The farmer came and removed the sheep the same day and has now repaired most of the fencing. We have also agreed he will come and remove any sheep immediately I tell him they are there.

The results are almost surprising: from chewed off stems in June to full growth now in August; I am encouraged to get the coppicing plan back on track this autumn.


Chewed back stems in June:




Hazel growth in August:




Even some ash regrowth:

 

[Mesquite]

Glad you sorted out the sheep problem Andy and the new growth looks good. It's surprising just how resiliant hazel and ash are.

 

[Broch]

Today was my first chance to get down into the wood after the storms last weekend; I feared what I might find!

As it happens, we seem to have got away with things quite lightly. We rarely get northerly winds here and, because the wood is on the North facing slope, I was worried we'd have a lot of damage.

I was also worried that there could be damage to the Shepherd's Hut!!

There was one birch down over the ride on the way down but it was hung up so I left it for later. I reached the hut and with absolute relief saw that it was intact and undamaged. So, first job, log burner lit and kettle on



Once I'd had a cuppa I walked the perimeter. There were quite a few branches down and a number of small trees - sadly a mature Rowan, and this big ash as well. The ash is in a position that will make it very hard to process so, I'm afraid, it may just spend the next 100 years rotting in place

Other than that, a few small trees to clear off fences and that will be it

 

[TeeDee]

Plenty of work to get on with there. You'll need a few Mince Pies and sweet teas to fuel the workload.

 

[Broch]

Late again - managed to get down to do some coppicing but, in my defence, the wood is north facing so a few weeks behind. I'm concentrating on the edges of the rides at the moment. My management plan includes coppicing the old hazel on the edges of the wood, to create a transition between the farm land and the wood, and along the rides to make them lighter to walk through. The core of the wood will stay full-cover, darker, and damper

One problem I have is that these hazels have not been coppiced for a very long time (if ever) so the growth isn't nice and straight and easy to process - it's tangled and interlocked and the brash is a real nightmare to deal with.

The other problem, working on my own, is I have difficulty visualising all the uses of the material and end up cutting it up too much. So, I can start off looking for walking stick material (nice straight rods) and completely forget that the less straight ones make good bean poles. Or I can watch out for bow stave material but loose sight of less straight but interesting greenwood chair material - the list goes on.

It started raining heavily around midday so I retreated to the shepherd's hut for lunch. I made a coffee but couldn't resist the urge to light the log burner - I lost an hour just daydreaming.

So, after 5 hours, I've only processed 2 old hazel! If anyone fancies a weekend camping in the wood helping me coppice, shout out - no experience necessary


Typical state of the old hazel in the wood




Tangled branches and brash




A coppiced stool, not to professional standard but it will have to do




A nice fire on a bitterly cold day

 

[TeeDee]

" So, after 5 hours, I've only processed 2 old hazel! If anyone fancies a weekend camping in the wood helping me coppice, shout out - no experience necessary "


D'uuuhhh - yes!

 

[punkrockcaveman]

" So, after 5 hours, I've only processed 2 old hazel! If anyone fancies a weekend camping in the wood helping me coppice, shout out - no experience necessary "


D'uuuhhh - yes!

If I can find a spare weekend, I'd be well up for this. Good excuse for the billhook and saw!

 

[swyn]

I bought a fallow barley field in 2008.
The following years we fenced the perimeter then planted hedges and 1500 young trees of varying species. Cherry does exceptionally well here along with hornbeam and of course there is a lot of silver birch planted as I thought to give the pioneers a helping hand.
This year the plan is to extend the tree planting after more fencing. I have bought creosoted posts and rails for the top rail. Don’t get me started on the quality of supposed fence post treatment! IMO just green food colouring and subsequently rotting posts in less than five years.
Sub dividing the grass keep into medieval sized areas is another part of the fence plan with twin fences and young hedging stock planted in between.
S