Coppicing is an ancient method of enhancing woodland biodiversity. The key to successful coppicing is to nurture the new coppice shoots. In return, a coppice will provide an endless supply of wood for a wide range of uses, and the authors present detailed instruction on how to produce many kinds of woodland products from besom brooms, firewood and charcoal to more challenging items such as hazel hurdles and coracles. Topics covered in Coppicing & Coppice Crafts include; how to find a suitable woodland and the pitfalls involved; the equipment, tools and resources that you will need, together with health and safety issues; tax issues, the law and what you can and cannot do; all aspects of coppice management including pests and diseases, and how to plant a new coppice; the flora and fauna of the coppice and how it should be managed; a wide range of coppice woods and crafts and how the products are made; wood as a fuel, including charcoal-making, the best types of wood to burn, wood-fired boilers, woodchips, pellets, kindling, logs and much more, with a useful glossary, bibliography and list of addresses.

Cut and come again forestry – reviving the ancient practice of resprout silviculture to power local woodland-based economies. Coppice Agroforestry is a richly illustrated, comprehensive guide to resprout silviculture – managing trees and shrubs by coppicing, pollarding, shredding, and pleaching – for a continuous supply of small diameter polewood for products from firewood to fine furniture. Contextualizing resprout silviculture historically, ecologically, and economically, Coppice Agroforestry explores the potential of this ancient practice for modern times. Coverage includes: The cultural history of coppicing in Europe and North America Tree and shrub anatomy, biology, and woodland ecology A suite of woodland management systems Dozens of handcrafted wood products on a continuum of value, offering a wide range of business opportunities Case studies of diverse coppice-based enterprises Assessing existing forests for coppice potential Designing new resprout silviculture systems Tables highlighting diverse species for various uses A vision of a modern resprout silviculture renaissance. A decade in the making, encyclopedic in scope, and written by the hand of a woodsman, Coppice Agroforestry is a deep dive into this ancient practice, blending it with modern science, systems thinking, and tools to land it firmly into the 21st century. Whether you have a few trees or an entire forest, Coppice Agroforestry is the must-have practical guide for homesteaders, farmers, foresters, land managers, and educators who ally themselves with the remarkable resilience of woody plants.

Cut and come again forestry – reviving the ancient practice of resprout silviculture to power local woodland-based economies. Coppice Agroforestry is a richly illustrated, comprehensive guide to resprout silviculture – managing trees and shrubs by coppicing, pollarding, shredding, and pleaching – for a continuous supply of small diameter polewood for products from firewood to fine furniture. Contextualizing resprout silviculture historically, ecologically, and economically, Coppice Agroforestry explores the potential of this ancient practice for modern times. Coverage includes: The cultural history of coppicing in Europe and North America Tree and shrub anatomy, biology, and woodland ecology A suite of woodland management systems Dozens of handcrafted wood products on a continuum of value, offering a wide range of business opportunities Case studies of diverse coppice-based enterprises Assessing existing forests for coppice potential Designing new resprout silviculture systems Tables highlighting diverse species for various uses A vision of a modern resprout silviculture renaissance. A decade in the making, encyclopedic in scope, and written by the hand of a woodsman, Coppice Agroforestry is a deep dive into this ancient practice, blending it with modern science, systems thinking, and tools to land it firmly into the 21st century. Whether you have a few trees or an entire forest, Coppice Agroforestry is the must-have practical guide for homesteaders, farmers, foresters, land managers, and educators who ally themselves with the remarkable resilience of woody plants.

Making Charcoal and Biochar is written with the interested amateur in mind, with the certainty that anyone who has a go at making charcoal will soon get the bug. Before you know it, you will be upgrading to a shiny new retort and there will be no looking back! This book gives a wide range of possibilities for making charcoal on a small scale and for commercial production. There are chapters on the heritage skills of earth burns, the enduring popularity of metal kilns and the future represented by the charcoal retort. Biochar - or small particle charcoal - has been heralded as an ancient but rediscovered 'super substance' that can increase soil fertility and productivity whilst locking up carbon into the ground. This book looks at the ongoing discussion and weighs up the evidence. It concludes with a celebration of the myriad ways in which charcoal can be put to use. Covering the essentials for starting a business such as legislation and marketing, there are also chapters on why charcoal is in the ascendency from the ubiquitious barbecue to the most recent research into biochar and carbon sequestration. Fully illustrated with 195 colour photographs.

From the early Middle Ages until the late 19th century, most woods in lowland England were coppiced, creating conditions suitable for many plants, insects and birds and those requiring open woodland habitats. This booklet explains how coppice systems worked, why they are important and how coppice can be managed to enhance its wildlife interest.

Britain has a long and rich tradition of woodcrafts and what, since about the 1970s, have been called the 'greenwood crafts'. Greenwood crafts focus on using wood that contains sap and that is easy to work with simple hand tools to produce beautiful and useful products.Discusses all you need to know to get started, including tools, workshops, sourcing wood, making some of your own devices and the characteristics of the various woods. Covers a wide variety of turned and carved items for the house and garden, including kitchen treen and sports equipment. Examines a wide range of greenwood chairs, describes how they are made and highlights the talent and creativity of a number of expert craftspeople in the field. Examines a number of basket-making techniques involving a range of raw materials, form willow to oak via hazel and other hedgerow plants. Considers a range of items for the garden and for agricultural use such as rustic furniture, wood store, shakes, shelters, fences and basic timber framing. Explores the future of greenwood working, takes a look at some of the new ideas emerging from the sector and includes handy hints on running a greenwood business. Few books have been published on the greenwood crafts and this present volume will be welcomed by all those with an interest in country crafts, trees, woodland, woodworking and all matters rural. Superbly illustrated with 380 colour photographs and clear step-by step instructions.

Professor John Harper, in his recent Population Biology of Plants (1977), made a comment and asked a question which effectively states the theme of this book. Noting that 'one of the consequences of the development of the theory of vegetational climax has been to guide the observer's mind forwards', i. e. that 'vegetation is interpreted asa stage on the way to something', he commented that 'it might be more healthy and scientifically more sound to look more often backwards and search for the explanation of the present in the past, to explain systems in relation to their history rather than their goal'. He went on to contrast the 'disaster theory' of plant succession, which holds that communities are a response to the effects of past disasters, with the 'climax theory', that they are stages in the approach to a climax state, and then asked 'do we account most completely for the characteristics of a population by a knowledge of its history or of its destiny?' Had this question been put to R. S. Adamson, E. J. Salisbury, A. G. Tansley or A. S. Watt, who are amongst the giants of the first forty years of woodland ecology in Britain, their answer would surely have been that understanding lies in a knowledge of destiny. Whilst not unaware of the historical facts of British woodlands, they were preoccupied with ideas of natural succession and climax, and tended to interpret their observations in these terms.