Small things matter

[Joeboy]

Bit of satisfaction today. We removed a couple of Bay trees (approx 12’ tall, trunk approx 8-10”dia) while remodelling part of the garden.

Although small, logged, split and stored them. Surprisingly, ready to go now (15% mc).

Used them today - wow - burns so well and hot.

Very few fuel miles (about 30 metres) and better than disposing of them - could have left them to decompose in the garden, but we do have plenty of other areas to support flora and fauna.

Only regret - didn’t cook something on the stove today - always tomorrow

We also have a lot of Hazel hedging - keep meaning to manage it more productively for wood - it’s never going to give anything more than ‘large kindling’, but it makes garden management a bit more cyclical.

Excellent, were the trees dead or is the moisture content due to time of year?

[Bugtownboy]

Very much alive, Joe.

I cut them down to ground level in, I think, early March, so, maybe, MC was inherently lower, although they’re obviously evergreen.

When I logged and split them, they were very (very) wet, though.

They were stored, with earlier processed Ash, against a South facing wall and uncovered. We have had a very dry, hot summer.

I was surprised they were ready to burn, but, free heat

Me and D (our landscape guy) managed to dig the root balls out by hand , but they were too chunky and heavy to play with.

Managed to move them to leave for the wee beasties.

[Joeboy]

Very much alive, Joe.

I cut them down to ground level in, I think, early March, so, maybe, MC was inherently lower, although they’re obviously evergreen.

When I logged and split them, they were very (very) wet, though.

They were stored, with earlier processed Ash, against a South facing wall and uncovered. We have had a very dry, hot summer.

I was surprised they were ready to burn, but, free heat

Me and D (our landscape guy) managed to dig the root balls out by hand , but they were too chunky and heavy to play with.

Managed to move them to leave for the wee beasties.

I watched an Alaska last frontier recording the other week. They ring the bark on X amount of trees and that's their freestanding woodstore for future years. Once ringed the trees won't draw up any water and basically airdry while standing. Fell, log, good to go. This was new info to me.

[AE-NMidlands]

A friend wombles any trimmings off our bay tree, sage bushes etc. as he puts a stick or two on his (enclosed) barbecue to flavour the big joints that he cooks. He's also happy to take away all sorts of fruit tree prunings...

[openspaceman]

Very much alive, Joe.

I cut them down to ground level in, I think, early March, so, maybe, MC was inherently lower, although they’re obviously evergreen.

I did the same to one I grew from seed in 1990, having coppiced it twice it had grown tall enough again to shade the garden so I logged it up, cut the smaller stuff with secateurs into a coal bunker and ground out the stump. I have potted several offspring and given them away. Even the wood is fragrant as one of the visiting dogs fetches them out of the log basket and chews them.

One thing about the wood is that it has a large difference in tangential to radial shrinkage as it dries, so it pulls deep splits and hence can dry faster. here in Sunny Surrey any wood cut and split by May and stored under an airy cover is seasoned down to sub 20% by October and I'm pulling bits out at 12% on the surface and 17% inside according to my moisture meter (good indicator but not as precise as weighing and oven drying).

It is also not reckoned to be frost hardy further north (wherever that might be).

[Bugtownboy]

I like using Bay leaves in cooking (particularly with ragu (obligatory) - we have so many in hedges around the house (plus Hazel, Birch, Alder, Holly etc) that we didn’t mind losing them.

They were ‘nice’ but shaded an area we now grow food.

Bay’s defo frost hardy down here - well, when we get one. In fairness, down to -4C yesterday. Considering 10-15M below us it can be 2-3⁰ lower.

[openspaceman]

I watched an Alaska last frontier recording the other week. They ring the bark on X amount of trees and that's their freestanding woodstore for future years. Once ringed the trees won't draw up any water and basically airdry while standing. Fell, log, good to go. This was new info to me.

This depends on certain things, basically rig barking removes the food supply to the roots but while thy continue to live they maintain supplies of water through the sapwood. Some trees have a lot of sapwood and continue growing, some like english elm only have the last ring of sapwood so cut that and they die. Others, like scots pine will root graft and sustain the ring barked trees sufficient for them to occlude the cut.

My first argument with a boss was over being required to frill girdle broadleaves and spray the cuts with 245t to kill them so that underplanted conifers could get away.

Sometimes you will see trees summer felled for biomass extracted whole tree, left stacked with the butts all presented to the ride. This is called sour felling and it allows the foliage to continue transpiring and lowering the moisture content prior to chipping.

[Joeboy]

I watched an Alaska last frontier recording the other week. They ring the bark on X amount of trees and that's their freestanding woodstore for future years. Once ringed the trees won't draw up any water and basically airdry while standing. Fell, log, good to go. This was new info to me.

This depends on certain things, basically rig barking removes the food supply to the roots but while thy continue to live they maintain supplies of water through the sapwood. Some trees have a lot of sapwood and continue growing, some like english elm only have the last ring of sapwood so cut that and they die. Others, like scots pine will root graft and sustain the ring barked trees sufficient for them to occlude the cut.

My first argument with a boss was over being required to frill girdle broadleaves and spray the cuts with 245t to kill them so that underplanted conifers could get away.

Sometimes you will see trees summer felled for biomass extracted whole tree, left stacked with the butts all presented to the ride. This is called sour felling and it allows the foliage to continue transpiring and lowering the moisture content prior to chipping.

Thank you, I knew none of this.

[Bugtownboy]

A friend wombles any trimmings off our bay tree, sage bushes etc. as he puts a stick or two on his (enclosed) barbecue to flavour the big joints that he cooks. He's also happy to take away all sorts of fruit tree prunings...

Our fruit tree prunings are kindling for the next year, AE. Gave the Olive and Fig a hard prune this year, so plenty to add to the Apple, Pear and Cherry.

Not convinced the fig will burn well, though.

Probs planting Pomegranate next year

[AE-NMidlands]

Sometimes you will see trees summer felled for biomass extracted whole tree, left stacked with the butts all presented to the ride. This is called sour felling and it allows the foliage to continue transpiring and lowering the moisture content prior to chipping.

Interesting... I remember reading that the difference in carcenogenicity between UK and continental cigarettes was down to the way the tobacco was processed.
The rest of the world/Europe uses air curing, when the sugars in the plant sap ferment during slow the drying (and I assume diffuse off as alcohol) whereas "our" industry went for quick kiln-drying which left the sugars in the leaves, subsequently generating a lot more carcinogenic tars and PAHs when it was smoked.
A