Tutor Clive Leeke is returning to Horsenden to teach a one day course on hazel coppicing and copse management. This course will be held in Horsenden Wood, an ancient woodland that dates back to Saxon times.

What is coppicing?

Coppicing is a traditional, many centuries old method of managing woodland. Many of our native trees thrive by felling, and coppicing recreates the beaver’s gnaw. A coppiced tree regenerates, sending out new growth and shoots; and its life cycle is reset, so that instead of having a 100 year lifespan (give or take), it can live for several centuries.

The branches that are cut out from the coppicing can be used for all sorts of sustainable purposes: making furniture, thatching spars, pea sticks, bean poles, hedge stakes and binders, hurdles, charcoal and biochar, and besom brooms, to name a few.

Coppicing also creates variation in the age of the trees in a wood, and allows more light in, which is a fantastic aid to biodiversity. Coppicing can breathe new life into the copse: previously dormant seeds can germinate with the greater levels of light, and the balance of flora can shift from bramble and ivy monopolies to bluebells, wood anemone, dog mercury, wild garlic, and other markers of ancient woodlands.

It’s a vital aspect of woodland management, a practice that is at the heart of keeping our trees and woodlands healthy.

What will I learn?

The following will be covered:

• an explanation of what coppicing is, the benefits it brings and why it’s done
• hazel coppicing rotation cycles
• tool selection and usage (including safe tool use)
• restoring neglected hazel stools
• layering (a process of using existing hazel stems to root down, creating new stools)
• hazel grading and processing

No prior experience is necessary!

If there are any questions, please email friends@horsenden.co.uk