Homesteading Middles: Coppicing Woodlot

In late March 2019, we planted a grove of locust sticks for our coppicing woodlot. The sticks were as tall as my knee. Three years later some are 15 feet tall, 8 inches around, and we are in full coppice mode. This is what we have learned so far.

New growth on locust trees have serious thorns. Serious thorns. As such, it is much easier on the hands to mow over the branches after you prune. This is much better than gathering the branches oh so gently and gingerly dragging them to the edges to throw them into the woods.

What was a hot and relentless part of our land has become a haven of shade and beauty. I love the regimented rows (8 feet apart each to be able to mow between). The green canopy invites frogs, dragonflies, and crickets into the coolness. The clean lines and diagonals feed my sense of order.

After cutting down the main trunk in the fall causes 8-13 shoots to burst forth next spring. Choosing the 2-3 that will live beyond this early toddlerhood accompanies cutting down their sisters. There is a sadness in this choice. My desire for 2-3 strong trunks to feed our fire in the winter is at odds with the desire of the plant to flourish and feed its growing root system. Dear plants, I honor your life and big BTUs, thank you for keeping us warm.

I look over the network of interconnected branches above and envision the communication happening below. The fungi and bacteria all talking to each other underground at the roots. Those trees we coppice in the fall will hear news of the rain and sun from their standing neighbors.

Properly managed, a coppicing wood lot can provide wood for hundreds of years. The trees, energized by the new shoots every 5-6 years, can live far beyond customary senescence for that tree. This feels like such a circle of giving and receiving. The human intervention allowing plants to become more than they could on their own (if living longer is considered a beneficial more).

And it is beautiful.

Thank you to whomever first figured this out. I am honored to stand on your shoulders.