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There is some land we have doing nothing, and the idea of being semi-sustainable long-term in firewood is attractive. I believe in the northern UK, silver birch is a good choice for fast growing firewood, but realistically how many years does it take to have a trunk thick enough to use for firewood? I guess we'd say the trunk needs to be 4-6".

Is it feasible that if I planted a copse of trees now, I could be harvesting in 10 years? How many such trees would likely be needed to burn over a winter e.g. kgs of wood per tree per year.

Is this realistically something I can do or are we talking multiple decades?

Mr. Boy
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  • Ten years is over optimistic - more likely 20, but Birch are not long lived trees - average life span 40-60 years. – Bamboo Dec 05 '17 at 14:32
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    You should contact https://www.forestry.gov.uk/ . They could help you on choosing the right species (taking into account various parameters: climate, soil, pest protections. 10-15 years are the minimum. But after you have a forest, the next harvests will be quicker for some trees (e.g. ash will regrowth from existing roots, just keep some part of trunk, but ash probably is not ideal in the North). – Giacomo Catenazzi Dec 05 '17 at 14:36
  • We actually have a lot of ash trees - established and saplings springing up like weeds - but no idea how fast they grow up here. – Mr. Boy Dec 05 '17 at 14:45
  • Poplar is a fast grower, but it generates [medium](http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html) heat. I have [read](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinia_pseudoacacia) that _Robinia_ is a good source of wood and grows relatively fast. – benn Dec 05 '17 at 15:05
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    I found this myself: http://www.nativeforestry.co.uk/firewood.html – Mr. Boy Dec 05 '17 at 15:17
  • I would avoid Ash - there's a big problem with Ash Dieback and many are just dying off or been removed to try to control its spread – Bamboo Dec 05 '17 at 16:28
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    You could look into willow grown for coppicing https://www.bowhayestrees.co.uk/logging-information says that after 4--6 years you get 3--4" trunks, which makes your 10 years for slightly thicker logs look feasible if you want to wait that long. – Chris H Dec 05 '17 at 16:52
  • Harder the wood type, the longer the burn also. You may want to plant a variety of trees that offer a long hot burn for your main fuel and some for kindling that are easy burners. – Deirdra Strangio Dec 07 '17 at 17:51
  • @Mr.Boy You definitely need to look into coppicing...um, as Chris H suggested! Cutting certain tree species down will allow them to grow back very quickly and multiplied by 20 plus for trunks. Need to have mature enough specimens but cutting them back to the ground makes them grow back like crazy. Lots of trunks that grow quickly and make decent firewood. Hard woods, slower growing trees make beautiful firewood but that would deplete our forests too quickly. Can't do this on pine trees/conifers, sigh. Willows, maples, birch...the list is long. – stormy Dec 09 '17 at 05:13
  • I lived where they grew alders as a crop. They were very fast. There were a few major winds that blew down at least half of these dense crops of alder...fast growth equals weaker wood equals faster burn. Just can't have your cake and eat it too grins! For us to have crops of wood within our lifetime to make money, it is the best you can do. – stormy Dec 10 '17 at 08:35

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It depends on the species. Some are fast growers, others are slow growers.

My grandparents have planted black locusts (Robinia pseudoacacia) to border a small garden they had. The trees were growing fast and then parts of them were cut for firewood because of its high heat content. These trees have an invasive habit and they are kept from invading by tilling the soil in the garden every autumn.

Other people have planted dense forests on small areas and they completely cut the trees after 10-15 years. They also use a claw-like machinery that I don't know what it's called, to easily dig up the roots that are also used as firewood. These dense forests rapidly grow in height because early branches are removed and the trees have the tendency to reach for the light. Lately they plant thornless black locusts.

Alina
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  • I've seen this 'claw' like thing as well. What it is for is to GNAW down big trees instead of sawing them down. I got to know this wonderful forest behind my home, walking while pregnant. Heavenly. Came home with baby and went on a walk and that entire forest had been wiped out with these claws. Erosion, nests, other mammal homes, the trillium, the wild ginger...all wiped out. Wiped out. That claw is horrible. Established forests need to be left alone. Just use our 'crops' of trees or make lumber out of plastic milk cartons (very nice stuff). Bothers me a lot wiping out life systems. – stormy Dec 10 '17 at 08:46