COPPICING, ORDERING FIRST SEEDS TO SOW

POT'S GROWING ON? 06/01/23

There was a point a few weeks ago when I felt behind on the year ahead before it had even started. Unable to muster the enthusiasm to believe I would catch up. As the winter solstice passed, out of guilt, I made little steps by ordering the seed packets I’d normally have ordered already, those that need sowing first and soon, such as chillies, onions and aubergine. This little act of doing, which took an evening in front of the TV, appears to have slingshotted me out of the doldrums. A few sunny dry days has helped, knowing that the brightness is rapidly, if imperceptibly, getting longer.

My books: A Greener Life | Wild about Weeds | Patterns

Part of our farm was planted up as a coppice and has only just reached the point it needs coppicing. I started last year but developed gardener’s elbow and had to stop shortly after I began. My arm’s aren’t better, I’ve learnt to manage it but now is the time in the year for dormant trees to be cut. Luckily I had help and advice from my brother too.

Coppicing is an ancient technique that involves cutting a tree to the ground that you know will reshoot. Most deciduous trees will do this if you cut when they are relatively young. It’s hard to judge when the age is right, you learn from experience, though you can research in books and online for tips. I’ve been pollarding some, which is the same thing but higher up. You can see the shoots on a birch I pollarded last year above, eventually forming many branches.

In the garden you can try this using a hand saw (as I do) but when managing a larger scale woodland a chainsaw becomes an essential tool. I use battery powered ones and have been on a week long course with certification, since gaining lots of experience. Chainsaws are dangerous tools and I only recommend people use them after having attended such a course where you learn about maintenance and PPE (personal protective equipment), of which you need lots.

We’ll use the wood for furniture, fenceposts, wildlife homes and some wood burning to heat part of our remote home. Stacking in piles and covering the top helps dry them out, it also acts as homes for insects.

Smaller pieces (brash) provide excellent wildlife homes, particularly for hedgehogs, when left in piles. Coppicing is a technique largely forgotten by most people in the UK these days but it’s fantastic for keeping trees young and making different forms of habitat for wildlife.