Illustrated Glossary of Products

This glossary attempts to provide an insight into the many sustainable products that are produced through the management of coppiced woodlands. There are bound to be many things we have missed and many craftsmen will produce items that are individual to them.

If you cant find what your looking for just find your local coppice craftsmen - if they don’t make what you're looking for, it's likely they know someone who does! If your in the south east you can also try looking at Woodlots. This bi-monthly publication is full of classified listings of products as well as timber and coppice materials.

Arbours

Structures used to provide a shady seating area often combined as a frame work for climbing plants. The seat can be built in or separate.

Artists charcoal

Traditionally produced from willow sticks for drawing and sketching.

Besom Brooms

Traditionally along handled broom of birch twigs (the classic witches broom)With the advent of Harry Potter books these are now often produced in miniature for equivalent sized Harry Potter fans, especially for Halloween.

Baskets

There are many different sizes and styles. Can be made of reed or young coppice shoots (particularly willow). See also Trugs.

Bean Sticks

7 - 8ft long poles between ¾ and 1¼ inches in diameter at the butt end, used as supports for growing runner beans. Recently the use of bean sticks has reduced due to the use of imported bamboo canes. However, the rougher and irregular surface of bean poles is said to promote better growth of runner bean plants (hence more beans), than smooth regular bamboo canes.

Birch Tops

1.5-2m (5-6') long for horse jumps

Bird Feeders

A number of different styles of bird feeder can be made from coppice materials. Be warned if your garden is frequented by grey squirrels, they will make short work of peanut feeders made of wood unless they are well protected with mesh.

Bird Tables

Very attractive and unique bird tables can be produced with coppice materials.

Charcoal

Made form the partial burning of wood in the absence of oxygen, charcoal was essential for much industrial innovation until the mass exploitation of coal. Nowadays the main market is for barbeques. English hardwoods make excellent charcoal but face competition from cheaper and less sustainable imports. For more information on the history of charcoal in the UK and the benefits of using home produced charcoal see www.englishcharcoal.co.uk.

Chestnut Paling

Fencing made from small diameter cleft stakes that are wired together. Transported in rolls, it can come in a range of heights up to 6’. As well as conventional fencing uses, it can also be used as deer fencing around coppice coupes or as protection for individual trees from grazing animals in fields and parkland.

Chestnut Stakes and Poles

Stakes can come in the round, half round or cleft and in various lengths depending on the end use. Includes tree stakes, fencing and revetments. Poles come in sizes to order and are the raw materials you need to construct your own rustic furniture, arbour or summer house.

Continuous Woven Fencing

Fencing woven in-situ as opposed to pre-constructed panels or hurdles. Normally of hazel, with a result somewhat similar to hazel hurdles, or chestnut poles, (see also Fencing)

Dahlia stakes

Either round or cleft stakes to support plants. A sustainable alternative to garden canes.

Furniture

Many fine items of furniture from stools and chairs to tables and even beds can be made from the wood and timber from coppice woodlands. (See also Rustic Furniture)

Faggots

Bundles of twigs and sticks bound together by twine or wire. They come in a variety of sizes depending on the end use. Traditionally used for heating Bakers' ovens and laundries, these days faggots are often used in coastal or in rivers to prevent erosion and repair banks or to change the flow characteristics. They are also used in the construction of artificial otter holts. Faggots provide a market for low grade coppice material that would have otherwise been gone to waste.

Fencing

Cleft (split) chestnut fencing provides a long lasting and attractive alternative to treated softwoods. Chestnut and oak gate and fencing posts are also produced from coppiced woodlands (see also Continuous Woven Fencing, Hurdles & Hurdle Panels).

Firewood

Quality firewood is produced through the management of coppiced woodland. To search for other firewood producers in your area you can also try Log Pile.

Gates

Traditional designs from sawn or round wood timber as well as original and unique designs.

Gate Hurdles

More robust than wattle hurdles, gate hurdles were traditionally made from cleft (split) ash, chestnut, oak, sallow or elm. Traditionally used for penning livestock they are still used as decorative boundaries in gardens.

Gazebos and Yurts

Small decorated buildings, usually in gardens, giving a good view of the surrounding countryside.

Hay Rakes

Hay rakes were produced by craftsmen throughout the country to meet the annual demand of the farmer. Most rakes were constructed from ash wood which is naturally strong, light and readily absorbs sudden strains and stresses. Traditional, hand-made rakes are still widely used by many garden contractors, sports clubs and local authorities.

Hedge Laying Materials

Stakes and binders for hedge laying are often sourced from coppice woodlands. For information on hedge laying see www.hedgelaying.org.uk

Hurdles or Wattle Hurdles

Traditionally made from cleft (split), hazel and strongly associated with downland areas of southern England where they were used for penning sheep. Today they are an attractive alternative to fence panels. Hurdles come in a variety of sizes from 6’ x 1’ to 6’x 6’. Smaller panels can be used as garden dividers or as screens. They can also be used as revetments for raised beds (see also Continuous Woven Fencing, Gate Hurdles & Hurdle Panels)

Hurdle materials

Many coppice workers can supply the raw materials for hurdle making:

• split rods ¾" - 1¼" x 7’- 8’

• round rods ½" - ¾" x 6’- 7’

• sails (uprights) 1" - 1½" x 3’6" - 6’6"

Hurdle Panels

Traditional wattle hurdles set in a solid wood frame and used as an attractive and sustainable alternative to conventional fencing panels

Kindling

Short lengths of split timber from seasoned logs used for lighting fires or fuelling chimineas. English hardwoods produce fine kindling. Much of the kindling on sale at petrol stations and garden centres is softwood which has a tendency to spit when burnt. It is also unlikely to be sourced from your local woods but transported from distance.

Laths

Cleft laths of oak were traditionally used as fill for panels between timber framed buildings and ceilings as well as a range of other uses Laths are also cleft from chestnut

 

Living Sculpture

Either practical garden structures or pure sculpture - but it all grows! Constructed from willow rods that take root, the sculpture or structure will grow and develop with its surroundings.

 

Pea Sticks

The branch ends from coppice rods. These are excellent supports for growing peas but can also be used to support other annual climbers such as sweet peas or nasturtiums.

 

Planters

A wide variety of attractive structures to plant in or to hold plant pots.

 

Plant Supports

A wide variety of designs and sizes which an be either freestanding or wall mounted (see also Trellis & Dahlia stakes).

 

Rose Arch

Arched plant supports often used over garden gates or pathways.

 

Rustic Furniture

Quality rustic furniture is produced from larger diameter coppiced material including chairs, benches and tables.

 

Sculpture & Carving

Many different forms. Solid pieces carved from small and large timbers, branchwood, and even roots, to woven structures using round or split coppice rods, but all with unique character resulting both through the inherent beauty of the wood worked and the skills of individual craftsmen and women.

 

Shingles

wooden tiles which have been used for roofing for several thousand years. Used in exactly the same way as clay or concrete tiles, traditionally in Britain they were oak, now mostly Canadian cedar. Soft woods have been used, and continue to be used in parts of the world, where they are usually coated in tar to achieve longevity. Shingles can be sawn or cleft, that is split along the grain. Cleft shingles look better and last longer.

 

Spars

Short lengths (27"- 30") of cleft hazel that are used by thatchers to secure layers of straw or reed to rooves when thatching. Pointed at both ends they are twisted and used as a pronged peg to hold the thatch. Longer layers of split hazel are also used to hold the outer layer of thatch. These are often known as liggers. Most spar makers will be able to supply these too.

 

Spar Gads

Bundles of round hazel rods ( ¾" - 1¼" x 27" - 30") out of which spars are cleft.

 

Tent Pegs

Traditional wooden tent pegs cleft from ash or beech are shaped with a draw knife or a device resembling a guillotine called a stock knife.

 

Timber Framed Constructions

Gazebos, arbors, summer houses, boat houses, garages and more can be made using traditional timber framing techniques that utilise large timbers from the management of woodlands including coppiced woodlands.

 

Trellis

Latticework used to support climbing plants (see also Plant Supports)

 

Trugs

A type of basket, traditionally made in Sussex, made from chestnut and willow. They come in a range of size and shapes, making them ideal for many things in the home and garden; everything from harvesting garden produce or gathering and displaying flowers, to storing fruit or eggs.

 

Twig Pencils

Pencils made using seasoned hazel shoots

 

 

Walking Sticks

There are many different designs from the steam bent crooked handle, to horn handled sticks and even some with whistles bored in them. In Sussex and Kent areas of sweet chestnut coppice are managed on a short rotation to provide bulk markets such as the National Health Service. Walking sticks can also be made from other woods such as blackthorn, holy and hazel. Often the rods selected for walking sticks have been contorted by honeysuckle growing around them which creates a unique twisted spiral where the stems have been constricted.

 

Willow Rods

Various lengths and diameters supplied for sculpture or weaving.

 

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