Country Enterprise - coppicing to the stool of hazel and chestnut for poles, hurdles, fencing and rods

<P> There are three ways of planting:</P><P> 1. <B>Coppice</B>. This is a short rotation system; poles grow from stools. Hazel coppice is the most widespread although today more use is made of chestnut coppice. Hazel is grown for hurdles and rods on a seven-year rotation. Chestnut, which is grown for fencing, is harvested on a fourteen-year cycle. If hop poles are the intended product, it may well take twenty years to grow them. The effect of coppice on the landscape is dynamic as in the harvesting year the wood is taken down to the stool. Very quickly masses of bluebells appear. However, within three or four years the area again resembles light forest.</P><P> 2. <B>Coppice with Standards</B>. This is often produced when an owner has allowed his crop of coppice to grow on. Often this is because it is uneconomic to harvest it in his area. If this is the variety of woodland on your land, it is probably worth removing all but the strongest shoot from each stool. This you can allow to grow on and cut later for fencing or turnery.</P><P> 3. <B>High Forest</B>. This consists of trees grown to maturity with the aim of harvesting them when they are required. When they are required is generally when it suits the owner best from a tax point of view. Of course, when you are desperate you crop them at the earliest opportunity! This type of forest can either have been planted simultaneously with an aim of overall cropping or planted unevenly with an aim of staggered cropping. The latter method preserves the amenity value of the woodland. </P><P ALIGN=RIGHT> <A HREF=woodland3.htm TARGET=mainframe STYLE="text-decoration: none">coppicing and high forest</A></P>