What to plant...........

My first thought was a forest, ideally of native fast growing trees. Birch seemed like a good option. I conducted some research, and spoke to some people who already have such plantations and it seemed to involve a wait of 10-15 years for any significant timber to be produced. On top of the delay, I'd have to replant any trees I cut down for fuel. I looked into other varieties such as poplar or eucalyptus, both of which have phenomenal growth rates, but suffer the same problems in terms of delay and re=planting. While a forest might be an idyllic proposition, it wasn't necessarily going to solve my problem.

Over 10 years ago I spent several months working for a Biomass heating company, selling woodchip boilers for commercial applications such as hotels and leisure centres. There was a lot of discussion at the time around growing and harvesting willow for woodchip. The idea was to "coppice" the willow thereby allowing multiple shoots on a 3-4 year harvest rotation (Short Rotation Coppice SRC). The willow in question was required to have relatively thin stems so that machinery could process it. I conducted some research and discovered that by choosing the right variety, and managing the growth/harvesting slightly differently, 3" - 4" stems could be achieved, which would be ideal for log production.

Both "The Willow Bank" (thewillowbank.com) and "Mammoth Willow" (mammothwillow.co.uk) in the UK have excellent information on different species of hybrid willow, as well as planting and growing guides. Mid February I "bit the bullet" and sprayed 2 long strips approx. 100m each along the bottom edge of the field. It seems that lack of competition from other plants/weeks/grass is a major factor in strong willow growth, so I prepared 2 tracks, approx. 1 meter wide, and 2 metres apart. The recommended spacing for willow for firewood is plants in double rows at 60-70cm spacing's. and rows at 1.5 metres apart. I wanted to drive the jeep between rows and be able to access both sides of the trees (for harvesting), hence the single rows and wider tracks in my case.

Willow Planting Guide (c) Mammoth Willow

From the information provided on various websites I selected a single variety of Hybrid willow, Dasyclados, which seemed to grow a thicker stem than most other varieties, ideal for logs! I figured at a 1m spacing I'd need 200 plants. Willow is provided in slips/whips which are basically a section of stem cut to length. They are generally available in 1ft. 2ft or 3ft lengths. Research indicates that longer the whip, the better chance of good establishment, so to maximise my chances I orders 200 x 3ft lengths from The Willow Bank. The other order I placed (on ebay) was for 200 rabbit guards, as I've got bunnies everywhere! It seems that rabbits love the taste of willow, and I wasn't about to provide a costly snack for the little furry fellows........

The goal:

 4 Year Old Willow grown in Ireland.