Coppicing

I've just spent a couple of days coppicing. This is part of an energy descent that I share with Deb, my partner, and her mother whom she looks after. A couple of months ago we had a wood-burning stove installed in her mother's room. It's brilliant - though the main benefit may be in keeping Deb's mother warmer rather than saving oil. However, it's nice to know that we are now equipped with an efficient way of keeping warm that's independent of fossil fuels.

A bit more explanation - I've been with Deb for nearly six years now. She, and her mother and nephew live in a big, pretty but draughty old farmhouse a couple of miles south of Horsham, West Sussex. I am gradually making the place a bit more draught-proof, mainly by putting budget secondary glazing over the leaky windows (more of that in a future post).

I still have a flat in London, in which I spend about half my time. A later part of my energy descent will be to sell or let out my flat in London and move myself entirely to Horsham. I think that's still some time away.

The house at Horsham has several hectares of land attached, which are used for grazing horses. Along the boundary are lots of formerly-coppiced hazels and dotted around are a few ash trees (young and old), some magnificent old oaks and a few field maples. I reckon there may be enough trees capable of being coppiced to keep the new stove supplied, perhaps along with the occasional fallen branch from the mature oaks and ashes. I'm hoping also to grow some more ashes from seed.

I'm feeling pretty whacked - I'm working entirely with hand tools. It's my way of keeping fit - I've never fancied going to a gym particularly as you normally have to pay for the privilege. What is more, I love it - maybe it reminds me of my days as a boy-scout when felling trees was one of the main ways in which we made ourselves useful.

The hand-tools thing is not to save energy - I reckon the energy involved in running a chainsaw would be miniscule compared with the energy "harvested". I'm just trying to avoid the trouble and expense of acquiring a chainsaw, the protective gear and the tuition in operating it safely - if there is such a thing as a safely-operated chainsaw.

I'm currently working on my second hazel. I did my first the week before last and I pollarded rather than coppicing it - that is I cut the stems about 1.5 metres above ground level. This was because I was afraid that deer and rabbits would kill off the new shoots if they started from near ground level. As an added precaution, I've stacked up brushwood around the tree to help hide it from deer, though it won't keep the rabbits out.

With my second tree I'm doing a full coppice - ie cutting down to about 200-400 mm above the ground. When I've finished, I'll use some of stems and the brushwood to create a "dead hedge" which I hope will be an effective screen, barrier or deterrent against the deer. I should know by next year's coppicing season whether it's safe to do a full coppice or whether I should stick to pollarding.

This photo shows where I was a little way into the coppicing the second tree. The tall cut stem is still waiting to be cut down near the ground. I do practically all the cutting in at least two stages. The first cut is a metre or so up off the ground to remove most of the stem. This is often an untidy cut because the leverage of a long, heavy stem splits the stem. The final cut removes only a small weight of timber and so it's much easier to get a clean cut, which I presume is important for keeping the stem healthy.

Incidentally, the "bible" to which I look for guidance on how to do all this is Woodlands: a practical handbook, by Elizabeth Agate, published by BTCV. Being of a parsimonious disposition, I tried but failed to find out all I needed by surfing the web. I console myself for having had to shell out £14.95 with the feeling that BTCV is an organisation well worth supporting.

I'm interested to find out how much of Britain's energy needs could be met through this sort of coppicing. I did a rough calculation the other day which suggested that, just to meet current domestic energy consumption (ie heating, hot water and electricity for homes) would require something like twice the land area of the UK to be given over to coppiced woodland. I need to check and refine my calculation and my source data but the result, if roughly correct, doesn't surprise me. Each potential source of renewable energy - wind, wave, solar, tidal, biomass etc. - seems to offer only a tiny proportion of our present consumption. Reducing our national carbon footprint by 80% will require action on a very broad front.