Thursday 26 February 2015

Re pollarding the willow...

The willow tree nearest the house was first pollarded in March 2012 by M. Bourreau, our wood supplier. We are  this year burning the logs it produced,


It is incredible how much growth it has put on in three years... This was taken in September 2014

Last week it was time for the chainsaw on a stick and the big chainsaw!!!

A few logs, if it ever dries up enough to cut them up!!

So now it's back to as it was in March 2012,,,

I look forward to doing it again in three years time,,,

5 comments:

Tim said...

Nice job... but it is five to ten years for willows... you get an optimum harvest that way...
I re-pollard ours next year for the first cut... and the other four one a year thereafter...
that is eight years each.

I was calculating t'other day, that cutting willow...
which is around half the calorific value of oak..
every eight to ten years, gives you TWICE the equivalent heat power than oak over the time it takes an oak to grow to a harvestable size...
same goes for poplar which is slightly better than willow calorie-wise...
and for a plaquette system, they both use much less energy to convert... so, why not grow loads of harvestable willow on the land that can't be used because it gets flooded every year??

Jean said...

It's hard to imagine that a tree cut back so hard can become so leafy so soon, one of the wonders of nature.

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Tim if you were producing wood 5-10 years would be great... BUT I fear it would be toooooooo big for me to do after such a time spam. We have noticed the willow burns much faster than the mix of woods we buy!!

Craig said...

It's such a pretty tree but I can fully appreciate the need to keep it in check. Won't be long in looking good again.

Tim said...

Looking at the difference in size in today's post...
I think you are probably right!!
That is a whopping return in three years!