It involves felling trees at their base to create a 'stool' where new shoots will grow. You can recognise a coppiced tree by the many thin trunks or 'poles' at its base. Most tree species can be coppiced but the best suited of our native trees are hazel, sweet chestnut, ash and lime.
Many types of deciduous tree can be coppiced: Alder, Ash, Beech, Birch (3-4 year cycle), Hazel (7 year cycle), Hornbeam, Oak (50 year cycle), Sycamore Sweet Chestnut (15-20 year cycle), Willow but Sweet Chestnut, Hazel (7 year cycle), and Hornbeam are the most commonly coppiced tree species currently.
Plants Suitable For Coppicing
Some trees are more suitable for coppicing than others. They must have the following attributes: 1. A strong, straight stem that will produce long What Does Coppicing do?
Coppicing is a form of woodland management that stimulates the regrowth of trees Tools Used For Coppicing
Felco pruners, secateurs, and loppers are the most popular tools for coppicing. This is because they are light to handle, easy to use, and give clean How Is Coppicing Carried out?
Coppicing methods vary depending on tree species and the size of the tree Why Is Coppicing Being Stopped?
In most woodlands in England, coppice has been gradually abandoned as a management technique over the past 60 years Coppice species must be able to tolerate shade and produce satisfactory stool shoots. Many different types of trees will work, including
apple, birch, ash, oak, willow, hazel, sweet chestnut, sycamore, alder, black locust, and field maple. All broadleaves coppice, though some more strongly that others.
- Some common and reliable coppicing trees include oak, ash, hazel, sweet chestnut, sycamore, willow, most alder species, and lime.
- The yew, monkey puzzle, and coast redwood can be coppiced despite being conifers.
Coppicing is practiced commercially on hazel, sweet chestnut, and oak (see below), but any deciduous, woody-stemmed tree can be coppiced including
sycamore, birch, and maple. Trees tend to be coppiced when they are mature or past their prime, but before they reach full maturity.
Trees to coppice
- Hornbeam Carpinus betulus was once one of the most commonly coppiced trees, its dense wood prized as fuel. Coppiced for garden use, the hornbeam would offer a dense foliage backdrop or screen, as when used for hedging.
