A lot of the ash trees in the Centenary Wood have self-seeded. Soome of the “seedlings” are twelve or more feet high! Instead of trying to get rid of the extra trees, we’ve coppiced them, cutting them off four inches or so above the ground. That way they will shoot again from the bottom and provide an understory of growth, while reducing the competition for the larger trees.
Malcolm hard at work with a bowsaw
Dave using his croppers
“And this is only half of what we cut!”
Dave and Paul taking a well-earned break
We stacked the cut wood in large piles, to act as habitat and gradually rot down. This was the way people used to gather firewood from common land – coppicing is a renewable resource, “cut and come again”.
Meanwhile Tim, Mary and Val were hard at work litter-picking.