A coppice too far...?

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Rambling Rob

Trees adjoining bus routes are regularly pollarded here and although they look ugly immediately after they soon improve.

Perhaps more intriguing is why, in light of other comments here, the hazel has been cut unusually high, and I think people are right to suggest 'rabbits' - the area is infested with them!

However, there are also feral goats here which have been introduced by the National Trust (to prevent scrub invading the downland, I think..), and the regrowth will be well within their reach.

Rob

if this is NT land one would presume that they are doing the copicing and the gaots will be fenced out - tho the other option is that if this is a lone stool on downland rather than a woodland environment it has just been cut down to within goat munching height intentionally

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by eeyore

the other option is that if this is a lone stool on downland rather than a woodland environment it has just been cut down to within goat munching height intentionally

Looks like it's a tree on a remnant hedge line (there's an uncut hazel in the background) and the historical cutting that has formed the stools, has been more to do with maintaining the hedge than actually creating a rotational coppice system. Certainly looks 'odd' cut at that height.

CM

[RKB]

Originally Posted by Cotham Marble

Looks like it's a tree on a remnant hedge line (there's an uncut hazel in the background)

Bit of a leap of faith there, surely?! There might be another just to the left of shot and three more just to the right!

[Elean0r]

Out of interest, if you had hazel in your garden would you coppice it regularly and all at once, or would just prune some stems back each year?

What would be the advantage of coppicing for a gardener, in the first year, because it means no catkins and so no nuts.

[Besnard Lake]

Hello Eleanor,

The reasons for copicing are either to harvest the coppice poles or to let in light to a woodland environment. if you have an open grown hazel in your garden and you want to harvest nuts then leave it alone.

Best regards

Bes

[treewee]

Probably done by BTCV. Always appears to be the blind leading the blind.

[Monkey Orchid]

Originally Posted by Elean0r

Out of interest, if you had hazel in your garden would you coppice it regularly and all at once, or would just prune some stems back each year?

What would be the advantage of coppicing for a gardener, in the first year, because it means no catkins and so no nuts.

Coppicing was traditionally done to produce a crop (timber/firewood), but nowadays is also done for conservation purposes (as mentioned previously, to let in more light to woodland floor, promoting more growth of flowers etc; and to create structural diversity, providing a range of habitat niches for different species).

If you did want to try coppicing in your garden it's perfectly possible... The usual method is to cut all the growing stems low down in the winter months, then allow the tree to regrow for several years (e.g. 10 - 20 years, depending on what size of hazel poles you wanted to produce). The process can be repeated ad infinitum, provided you leave a long enough period between each cut. One side-benefit of coppicing is that it does extend the life of an individual tree: many hazel coppice 'stools' (as trees treated in this way are called) in ancient woodlands and hedgerows are hundreds of years old.

However, if what you're after is an ordinary hazel tree and a crop of hazelnuts, then just leaving it to grow naturally is your best bet.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Rambling Rob

...well probably not, hazel seems to thrive on being cut back, but this one near Bembridge, IoW caught my eye this afternoon. Does seem a bit extreme though... url=http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/showphoto.php?photo=125024][/url]
All the best,
Rob

Here's some background to what may be intended Coppice - Mini Pollard

[Besnard Lake]

Originally Posted by treewee

Probably done by BTCV. Always appears to be the blind leading the blind.

I'll second that treewee. BTCV, in my experience, employ people with outdated ideas who instruct volunteers whose enthusiasm far outways their skills and knowledge about what they're doing. I have seen habitats damaged as a result of their work. What other profession would allow untrained/unskilled volunteers loose on their area of work? Imagine the carnage if hospitals were full of well-meaning volunteers performing heart transplants etc. Maybe an extreme analogy but still...

Bes

[The Woodman]

The best way to find out why the coppicing has been done in this way is to ask the person who did it.

It could be that it was the easiest way with simple hand tools by non qualified or experienced persons.