Choosing Hazel and Ash for Traditional Coppice Stools

Two classics of the working copse

Walk into almost any surviving working coppice in lowland Britain and you will find the same pair doing the heavy lifting: hazel on the lighter, drier ground, and ash on the deeper, wetter soils. Between them they cover the great majority of traditional coppice produce — hurdles, thatching spars, pea sticks, hop poles, rake shafts and tool handles.

The two species behave very differently, and understanding that difference is the whole art of planning a rotation. Hazel is a sprinter. It will throw up usable rods within three or four years and can be cut again and again for centuries. Ash is the long-distance runner: slower to produce, fussier about wet feet, but capable of growing timber with real strength in it. Choose the wrong one for your patch and you will spend years fighting the site.

Hazel: built for the short rotation

Hazel (Corylus avellana) is the finest coppice species in the British Isles and, happily, one of the easiest. Cut a stool cleanly and it responds by sending up a ring of new shoots from the rim of the stump rather than from the middle. That habit is why cutting low and clean matters so much: a stool cut high builds a raised, tufted crown that is awkward to cut properly next time, and the stool gradually loses vigour.

Aim for a stump height of roughly 5 cm, with the cut angled slightly so rainwater runs off rather than sitting on the wood. Never cut into the soil and never tear the bark — a ragged stool invites decay. On a well-grown hazel stool you should expect a dozen or more rods, and on a good site rather more.

• Hurdle rods: cut on a 7–12 year cycle, roughly 2.5–4 m long and 25–40 mm at the butt, straight and knot-free.
• Pea sticks and bean poles: cut every 3–5 years, 1–2 m long with the bushy tops left on.
• Thatching spars and binders: shorter, flexible rods, often 4–7 years old, split or twisted as required.
• Walking sticks and besom handles: the longest cycle of all, 12–15 years for genuinely clean, thick material.

Getting the site right

Hazel is tolerant but not indifferent. It crops best on free-draining loams and slightly acidic soils, and it needs light. Leave it under a dense canopy of standards and the rods grow thin, mossy and useless. A traditional arrangement of around 40–60 oak standards per hectare over hazel stools has stood the test of time precisely because it lets enough light through.

Protection is the other non-negotiable. Deer, rabbits, sheep and cattle will all browse new growth, and a stool grazed off repeatedly for two or three seasons will die. Fence the coupe before you cut it, not after. A thick layer of brash spread over the cut stumps is also worth the effort: it suppresses weeds, holds moisture and discourages browsing, though keep the piles thin enough that they do not smother the new shoots.

Ash: heavier ground, stronger timber

Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is the natural partner to hazel because it occupies the ground hazel dislikes. It tolerates heavy clay, limestone and periodically wet soils, provided the water drains away in winter. In return it gives you a wood that is tough, springy and shock-resistant — which is exactly why it was the traditional choice for handles and shafts.

Ash coppice is cut on a longer cycle than hazel, generally 10–20 years, and rather less frequently if you want substantial material. It does not sprout quite so freely as hazel, and repeated very short rotations will eventually exhaust a stool, so give it room and time.

• Hop poles: straight, 4–6 m lengths, cut at around 12–15 years.
• Tool handles and shafts: cleaner butt sections, 15–25 years, suited to cleaving and turning.
• Gate and fencing material, tent pegs, ladders: shorter, thicker rods from the same rotation.

One practical caveat: ash dieback has changed the picture for anyone planting ash today. If you are establishing new coppice, do not put all your eggs in the ash basket. Favour any individual trees that show tolerance, space your ash stools generously, and be prepared to replace losses with hazel, field maple, small-leaved lime or sweet chestnut where the ground suits them.

Cutting, timing and kit

Cut in the dormant season, from leaf fall through to late February and certainly before the sap begins to rise. Timber cut in full leaf is slower to regenerate and heavier to handle. Work in dry conditions where you can; wet, muddy cutting damages stools and makes the brash harder to deal with.

A sharp billhook remains the right tool for hazel rods, with a pruning saw or bow saw for anything over about 75 mm. For ash, a chainsaw is usually the sensible option once the material gets above wrist thickness, with all the usual protective clothing, a helmet and a first-aid kit within reach. Cut the stool slightly higher than you would for hazel — ash responds better to a stump of around 10 cm — and take care not to split the wood.

Planning a rotation that actually works

Divide the wood into as many coupes as there are years in your chosen cycle. Ten-year hazel rotation means ten coupes; cut one each winter and you have a steady supply and a mosaic of ages that wildlife loves. Ash fits neatly alongside, either as standards over the hazel or in its own blocks on the wetter ground, cut on a longer interval so that only a fraction of the ash is felled in any one year.

Keep a ride or two open, leave a few dead standing stems for invertebrates and birds, and resist the urge to tidy every corner. A coppice is a working wood, not a park — cut it properly, protect it, and it will outlast you comfortably.