Coppicing Hazel Trees

Coppicing

Coppicing a hazel tree means cutting it back down to ground level. You can still cut it back but not as extreme as that, if you want. It’s recommended because it can extend the life of a hazel tree, and encourages new growth. It might also create light for things below it to grow, or improve the health of other trees, like in my case where it was impacting a fir tree.

When to coppice hazel trees

The best time to coppice a hazel tree is when it is dormant, which will be late winter to early spring, usually some time around February to March, but the weather will impact this.

How to coppice hazel trees

You can see this video that briefly goes through how to do it. The picture at the end is the stage as of releasing this post, and I have not finished coppicing yet.

The goal is to cut back all of the stems to within a few inches of the ground. You can use seceteurs on the smallest branches. Loppers can help with the smaller ones and the slightly bigger ones. You will need a saw or chainsaw for the bigger branches. I find it easier to go in with the seceteurs and remove the easy to get to small branches first. Then I’ll get the loppers out (I have both normal and ratchet) and do what I can with those. That should then leave me with the ones that need sawing. With these bigger ones you’re going to want to be careful when they fall, and it can help to have a second person there to help you with that.

What to do with the branches

Make wigwams. Branches around 10 ft long are ideal to make wigwams with, but you can go as short as 7-8 ft and get the job done. You’ll want to cut off any side shoots and pick ones that are quite straight. Make wigwams with similar length branches, so if you have multiple wigwams, they may be different heights to each other.

Make supports for plants. Plants like tomatoes benefit from having a support to grow up. Stronger branches that you have cut off can be used for this, provided that they are the right height and can support the weight of the plant.

Make fences. You can stick some branches upright into the ground and then attach wire in between them to make a fence to keep out pests like rabbits and deer (you’ll need squares that they can’t fit through). Or you can make a wattle fence by weaving the flexible hazel branches between the upright posts of the fence. You can find guides for this online, but I’ll hopefully be making some at some point, and when I do I’ll share them on my blog and social media.

Mulch or pile up. Any of the smaller branches that you won’t be using for anything else you can shred and use as a mulch, or pile up and leave for wildlife to use. The same applies for any of the larger branches that you aren’t using for other things.

Firewood or Biochar. If you have any branches that are thick enough to use as firewood you can season them and use them. They are a fast burning wood though. Or you can use them to make biochar. There are guides for this online, but like with wattle fences, I’ll hopefully be making it (again, as I have already previously made it) and sharing it on my blog and social media.