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when to coppice a eucalyptus?

cesca beamish

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Location: Leicester, UK 8b,

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posted 8 years ago

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Hello, i have a few eucalyptus trees that are now about 10' tall, 3" trunks, that I planned to coppice to produce weaving material however I can't decide when this is best done. Half the info takes the coppicing during the winter (like hazels etc) side the other talks of coppicing during the summer as you would prune an evergreen. So I want to coppice an evergreen! they are E. gunnii and viminalis. Anyone any thoughts please?

Bryant RedHawk

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Location: Arkansas - Zone 7B/8A stoney, sandy loam soil pH 6.5

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posted 8 years ago

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I would do the coppice work while the trees are in a growth cycle. That way the sap is already flowing and you are most likely to get new suckers coming on.

I have some hickory trees that I cut down over the winter and they never sent out suckers from the stumps this spring.
The few I cut last summer, put out suckers within three weeks and re-suckered this spring.

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David Livingston

pollinator

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Location: Anjou ,France

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posted 8 years ago

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First thing I would day is that such work here in France is usually done in the Autumn winter not sure if that is done for tree reasons or human reasons and is usually after the leaves have fallen ., I have not seen this type of tree pollarded . Near me its usually Oak Ash or Beech , Chestnut ,Hazel and willow are usually stumped .
Secondly the height depends on what the field is to be used for in future . Cattle then its about 9 ft sheep a bit less .
Thirdly you do get a lot of little branches before the tree settles down its normal and I suspect unavoidable .
Fourthly normal time between harvests ten years ( ish )

David

Living in Anjou , France,
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eric koperek

Posts: 100

posted 8 years ago

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TO: Cesca Beamish
FROM: Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com
SUBJECT: Coppicing of Eucalyptus Trees
DATE: PM 1:20 Saturday 11 June 2016
TEXT:

(1) My family have been coppicing eucalyptus trees since the 1840's for production of firewood (for distilling eucalyptus oil) and charcoal (for filtering distilled spirits).

(2) Eucalyptus trees are best coppiced when ACTIVELY GROWING = in the warm part of the year (in England) = the wet part of the year (monsoon in Australia, California, East Africa, and India).

(3) Coppice eucalyptus trees every 7th year when stems reach 2 to 3 inches diameter = the ideal size for firewood or charcoal production.

(4) Fuel production = weight of firewood per acre per year goes down if trees are coppiced later than every 7th year. Use stem size as a guide to correct harvest schedule; coppice wood should be only 2 to 3 inches diameter.

(5) Eucalyptus makes good firewood. Many colonial steam trains were fueled with eucalyptus. California railroads used mostly plantation grown eucalyptus for firewood.

(6) Eucalyptus needs lots of water. Eucalyptus trees absorb so much water that they are planted specifically to "drain" wet soils.

ERIC KOPEREK = erickoperek@gmail.com

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David Livingston

pollinator

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Location: Anjou ,France

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posted 8 years ago

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Eric
Are you talking about stooling or pollarding ? It's unclear from your post .
David

Living in Anjou , France,
For the many not for the few
http://www.permies.com/t/80/31583/projects/Permie-Pennies-France#330873

eric koperek

Posts: 100

posted 8 years ago

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TO: David Livingston
FROM: Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com
SUBJECT: Official = Correct Definition of "Coppicing"
DATE: PM 1:50 Sunday 12 June 2016
TEXT:

(1) To "coppice" a tree means to cut the trunk down to the ground then harvest the sprouts when they grow to useful size, most commonly 2 to 3 inches diameter. There are many coppice woods in France dating back hundreds of years.

(2) To "pollard" a tree means to repeatedly prune branches back to a central trunk.

(3) See: "Coppicing Primer" at www.agriculturesolutions.wordpress.com

(4) Please send me an e-mail if you have further questions or require additional information.

ERIC KOPEREK = erickoperek@gmail.com

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cesca beamish

Posts: 80

Location: Leicester, UK 8b,

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posted 8 years ago

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excellent information, THANK YOU Eric.

eric koperek

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posted 8 years ago

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TO: Cesca Beamish
FROM: Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com
SUBJECT: Growing Eucalyptus trees in England
DATE: Pm 7:38 Tuesday 21 June 2016
TEXT:

(1) Just a word of caution: Be certain that you are really growing "Eucalyptus" trees = Botanical Genus EUCALYPTUS as in Eucalyptus globulus variety globulus = one of many varieties of "blue gum" distilled to produce medicinal eucalyptus oil. I do not know of any Eucalyptus species that grow where it snows. Eucalyptus trees are tropical or sub-tropical. They do not tolerate hard freezes. How you can grow Eucalyptus in England is a wonder of forestry.

ERIC KOPEREK = erickoperek@gmail.com

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David Wood

Posts: 53

Location: Sth Gippsland and Melbourne

posted 8 years ago

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As well as eucalypts endemic to tropical and sub-tropical areas, there's a wide rage of eucalypts that grow in temperate areas in southern Australia including Tasmania. Some of these grow in areas where they will be exposed to snow. For example, Alpine ash (E. delegatensis) and Snow Gum (E. pauciflora). Many of the temperate species will cope with below freezing for greater or lesser periods - typically overnight - once established. We lost quite a few Corymbia maculata (Spotted Gum) seedlings in an exposed site to a particularly cold night with a gale blowing a few years ago. (Corymbias used to be part of Eucalyptus but were moved a few years ago.) We have other established Spotted Gum that survived those conditions.

This reference has good information on eucs and other Australian species:

https://www.florabank.org.au/lucid/key/Species%20Navigator/Media/Html/index.htm

There's some good information on growing species out of their normal range at:

http://growingontheedge.net/viewforum.php?f=2

Pollarding is generally used to mean cutting the tree back above browsing height so the new stems are not nibbled by opportunistic browsers such as rabbits and deer.

Regards

David

eric koperek wrote:TO: Cesca Beamish
FROM: Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com
SUBJECT: Growing Eucalyptus trees in England
DATE: Pm 7:38 Tuesday 21 June 2016
TEXT:

(1) Just a word of caution: Be certain that you are really growing "Eucalyptus" trees = Botanical Genus EUCALYPTUS as in Eucalyptus globulus variety globulus = one of many varieties of "blue gum" distilled to produce medicinal eucalyptus oil. I do not know of any Eucalyptus species that grow where it snows. Eucalyptus trees are tropical or sub-tropical. They do not tolerate hard freezes. How you can grow Eucalyptus in England is a wonder of forestry.

ERIC KOPEREK = erickoperek@gmail.com

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