L. Johnson wrote:I have three small mountain plots of land here a bit separated from my home property, so in permaculture terms they are my zone 4 and 5.
I have been puzzling over what, if anything, to do with them. Zone 5 as an observation tool is lovely and wonderful. But I don't mind expanding my zone 4 for resources.
One plot in particular had been a garden of some sort in the past, and is zoned as "garden/field" on the property map. It is now a relatively clear area of woodland with some bamboo growing in it and a volunteer tree here or there. It is on the north side of a steep but low mountain, near the base and not far from a small river. I assume that in the past the garden and area around it had been cleared and was used for growing vegetables, but in the time since the woods have reclaimed that mountain and found their way all the way up to the river side.
The result is a somewhat clear woodland space surrounded by mature trees, bamboo, and younger trees (20-40) or so years old. I suspect it is no longer suited to growing vegetables due to the limited sunlight.
My question is... given the limited light on the north facing side of this mountain and surrounding woodland, what are my chances of successfully establishing a coppice?
Interestingly, north facing slopes (in the northern hemisphere) often can be equally or even more productive than south facing slopes when it comes to wood products. This is because they tend to have more abundant moisture. Japan is a pretty non-brittle environment as far as I know. It's relatively similar to our climate here in Vermont USA (although not as cold), but even here, we tend to see rich soils and strong tree growth on north facing slopes. And some of the most reliable maple sugaring operations also are on north facing slopes where the season tends to last longer.
So I wouldn't worry too much about the aspect of your site and instead just look to the species already growing there for inspriation!
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