Unplanned coppice

It looks like a couple of the dead white ash trees we had taken down last year (about 12-15 trees total) weren't quite dead! We have some regrowth from the outer edges of a few of the stumps. I guess we have unintentionally coppiced them!

From what I can find, it looks like the ash borer probably won't kill them back again until they reach about ~1.5-2". I guess that's a bit smaller than most coppicing, but we can probably make some use of them, if the shoots survive long enough.

I don't know a lot about coppicing, and it wasn't a top priority for us for our forest garden plans, but I won't turn it down, either! Any tips and recommendations for best practices? We didn't expect to have any ash remaining in the woods on our property, so it's not a real loss at this point if they don't make it. But perhaps we can get some bonus wood for the occasional trellising project or tool repair in a few years.

Syd Smith wrote: Any tips and recommendations for best practices? ... But perhaps we can get some bonus wood for the occasional trellising project or tool repair in a few years.

Both those goals are perfect for small coppiced wood.

My understanding from research, is that you will have to decide how many of the sprouts you want to keep. You keep more sprouts if you intend to keep them quite small in diameter. If you want larger diameter material, you will prune them to a smaller number.
https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/biomass-energy-resources/fuel/energy-crops-3/short-rotation-coppice/

Who knows what will happen with the Ash Borer. Some other insect might get them in check, or the "stools" you have just started (stool is what the coppice base is called) may develop resistance, so I suggest you cross that road when you get there.

This video is about someone in New York whose experimenting with Ash coppicing:

Jay Angler wrote:
Both those goals are perfect for small coppiced wood.

My understanding from research, is that you will have to decide how many of the sprouts you want to keep. You keep more sprouts if you intend to keep them quite small in diameter. If you want larger diameter material, you will prune them to a smaller number.
https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/biomass-energy-resources/fuel/energy-crops-3/short-rotation-coppice/

Who knows what will happen with the Ash Borer. Some other insect might get them in check, or the "stools" you have just started (stool is what the coppice base is called) may develop resistance, so I suggest you cross that road when you get there.

This video is about someone in New York whose experimenting with Ash coppicing:

Well, that's sure a lot of chainsawing!

Deer browsing may nip this in the bud (HA), realistically, but so far they haven't gone for it, so who knows. We cut the trees down to reduce damage since they were starting to fall, and so they are low coppice cuts and not at an ideal angle. Worth a try!!

Syd Smith wrote:Deer browsing may nip this in the bud (HA), realistically, but so far they haven't gone for it, so who knows. We cut the trees down to reduce damage since they were starting to fall, and so they are low coppice cuts and not at an ideal angle. Worth a try!!

Pollarding keeps the new growth above deer height, but it is also weaker and more prone to storm damage.

If you can put a ring of fencing around your unplanned coppice - ideally tight weave at the bottom to exclude the rabbits, and larger higher up to about 6 ft, that would improve your odds a lot. I have managed to keep the deer at bay with just the 4 ft plastic snow fencing by sticking pokey branches through the top, but the rabbits will chew through it.

Animal issues often come down to what other food options they have. I'm expecting a lot of pressure in my area this year because our drought started early. Deer have already broken into 2 of my "semi-protected" areas and its just turned summer! We've got months of dry weather to go.

There's also a book called Coppice Agroforestry by Mark Krawczyx, if anyone is thinking that direction.

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:There's also a book called Coppice Agroforestry by Mark Krawczyx, if anyone is thinking that direction.

Permies summary and book reports can be found here:
https://permies.com/wiki/203188/Coppice-Agroforestry-Tending-Trees-Product

It is an excellent book. It covers not just the coppicing side, but also utilization of a proper coppice system for profit - firewood is considered a low value product and used for poor quality wood.

Of course, coppice can be harvested by livestock, too. Pictured are ash sprouts that the lambs take to with gusto. The branches could've been harvested, bundled, and dried and stored for winter leaf hay.