Coppice restoration

What is coppicing

Coppicing is a style of woodland management that dates back many centuries. Essentially, it entails cutting a tree back to almost ground level and letting the new shoots that emerge from the stool (stump) grow on. Usually this would be done on a regular basis, often referred to as a rotation, and the time scales would vary from species to species; willow is cut on a very short rotation to provide material for basketry; hazel is traditionally cut on a 7–8 year cycle for hurdle making; sweet chestnut ranges from 2–3 years for walking sticks, to 24 years + for fencing material and gate hurdles.

Which sorts of wood can be coppiced?

Not all trees will coppice, but the most commonly used species are hazel, ash, sweet chestnut, alder, willow and oak. In days gone by, each of these species would have had a whole industry based around them. Many of these have long since disappeared, but as people become more aware of the advantages of this system of management, some of these traditional uses are making a comeback. As a practising rural craftsman who cuts all his own coppice material, I tend to approach woodland with a mind to what the wood has to offer in terms of product and potential. One of the major advantages of coming from a craft background rather than a forestry one is that I am able to think outside the box. For example, to some people, derelict hazel may look like a load of firewood, but to me it has many other potential uses, such as block sticks (uncarved ‘blanks’) for walking-stick makers. 

When is the best time to cut derelict coppice?

Ideally, coppice should be cut when the sap is down, so in mid-Wiltshire, where I am based, that usually means from the end of October up until the end of March at the latest. In many areas of Britain, the cutting season traditionally ended every year on ‘Lady Day’ (March 25th). 

Why is it important to restore derelict coppice?

Well-maintained coppice has many things to offer as a woodland management system:

• it provides a self renewing source of material;
• because the new growth is cut on a relatively short period, the wood yields a return much quicker than growing timber trees;
• if necessary, the regrowth can be cut using hand tools or small chainsaws, and the cut material moved by hand;
• coppice is classed as understorey, so a felling licence is not often required.

Well-maintained coppice has many things to offer from an environmental perspective:

• it allows light back into the base of the wood, supporting a wide range of plant, animal and insect types;
• it creates a suitable habitat for many rare or endangered species, from dormice to nightingales;
• smaller cut material means that smaller, lower impact machinery can be effectively employed, so disturbance to the soil structure is reduced.