Yesterday was a beautiful cold sunny day. A light dusting of frozen snow made everything stand out and looked beautiful. However it was a day for working hard and getting two important jobs done.
A light dusting of snow and some morning sun.
I have a huge over-stood hazel, desperately in need of re-coppicing. The boughs are so heavy that they are almost horizontal. The danger being that the weight pulling down can split the stool (base) of the tree allowing rot to set in. So having now got my felling licence, I’ve been itching to get in there and start doing some surgery. This is how it looked before I started.
Huge overstood hazel ready for re-coppicing
The boughs need cutting right down to a few inches above ground. The problem is, the weight of them will split them before you finish the cut. If they split low down, you damage the stool again. So the first cuts were made about a metre above ground level. A shallow cut underneath first helps to minimise splitting, then start the true cut, just above and higher up the bough. It’s amazing how tall these boughs had become – easily 10 metres to the tips. Quite a lot of weight to them too. So here’s how it looked after the first “trim”.
Over-stood hazel after the initial cut to remove the weighty boughs.
Having then released the main weight from them, it was a case of trimming them down to a few inches above ground. I left a few thin “whips” on to help the tree photosynthesise when spring comes and hopefully, the new shoots to grow away quickly. It’s a case of clearing up the sawn boughs and waiting to see how it responds. The tree was already showing catkins. There won’t be any more of those for a few years now but I should get some nice straight rods for craft work. I’ll protect it from deer for the first few years with some netting. I was interested to know how old these boughs were – how many years since last cut. I counted about 30 years growth rings.
The finished job, the hazel re-coppiced.
I said there were two important jobs. The other was to finish clearing the bramble in the triangular glade patch. The bluebells are starting to show their leaf tips so I wanted to get this done ASAP to avoid damaging them too much. Job done, now wait and see what other wild plants emerge in spring now that the competing bramble and bracken are cut down and light can re-enliven all those dormant seeds. I shall be doing some more replanting here soon too.
The triangular glade where I have finished clearing bramble and bracken
