Growing your own firewood

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by onalove, Oct 1, 2010.

  1. Mirrabooka

    Mirrabooka Junior Member

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    Steve Solomon-The Intelligent Gardener- recommends always getting a soil test for vegetable cultivation. I imagine the same applies to growing trees. Why go to all the effort of amending soil with horse manure, or anything else for that matter, when one has no idea what, if anything, is missing.
     
  2. mischief

    mischief Senior Member

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    Hi Ellie,
    Welcome!
    If you have horse manure then I dont see why you cant use it to fertilise your trees. It would probably be a good idea to find out how much is enough and when would be best to apply it.

    Coppicing is when you cut trees that will grow again from the bit left behind in the ground. There are quite afew different trees that will regrow again.
    SOP is a font of knowledge on trees.
     
  3. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    One problem with horse manure is the risk of importing pasture grass species underneath your trees (single stomach problems). Pasture grass and trees don't mix so it's better to reduce the risk of re-infestation.

    Hot composting your poo will kill some or most of the seeds. Compost can't be overused but a little bit goes a long way, is pH neutral and will help any tree, soil test or not.
     
  4. void_genesis

    void_genesis Junior Member

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    One good species for firewood in warmer climates is Calliandra. The common C. haematocephala (often grown as an ornamental) only gets to about 2-4 m tall, and if pruned develops long pencil thickness regrowth stems that are very easy to cut and quick to dry (and the leaves that fall off make excellent compost). It is really dense wood despite being so young and I am expecting it would be excellent fast burning fuel for rocket stoves given it naturally grows as thin stems, easily bundled together.
     
  5. sweetpea

    sweetpea Junior Member

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    I love my eucalyptus, it's excellent wood, and despite its unfair reputation, it burns hot, cleanly and slowly. Even the dried bark is great. If it is cured properly the oil is not a problem. The trees and tree litter improves the soil they grow in. but....it needs a LOT of ground water. If you see it growing somewhere naturally it means there is a ton of water underneath it. Lots of my neighbors have planted it to actually suck up extra water in marshy areas and stop erosion on hillsides. So it would take a lot of water to try to naturalize them in a place they wouldn't ordinarily grow. I love the scent in the air on a hot summer day under the eucalyptus. They can be planted where wild blackberries grow, which are a good indication of year-round water.

    But.....eucalyptus limbs snap and drop easily in windstorms and sometimes just for the heck of it, so they shouldn't be near a house or structure

    And if you plant a lot of it, you can sell the firewood, too. It's a great income crop.

    I would not recommend pine. I have a lot of it from the previous owner having planted it, and if there is even one drought year, or trees were planted and not volunteers, they will start dripping sap, and that is death to a chainsaw, and sap causes soot to build up inside a chimney. Plus nothing wants to grow around it, the roots are shallow and can lift foundations and driveways. It is a nightmare if needles get into rain gutters, which they does every single week. We actually removed the rain gutters on the side of the house where the pine needles get in, and put up a patio canopy cover that they slide down, and the rain washes them down.

    And just in case some folks don't know about this, trying to burn any wood before it's cured, and particular wood with sap in it, will line the flue with soot and could cause a chimney fire. Once I was in the living room of a friend whose chimney started on fire, and it was scary. Smoke filled the room, flames came out into the room and out the top above the roof. It was at night, and we had to get the fire out, open the whole house, go up on the roof with a hose, shut off the air supply, make sure it was out. Every part of trying to get that under control was dangerous. So it can sneak up on you using wood that doesn't burn clean and hot.

    https://grafton-nursery.co.uk/coppicing-eucalyptus-trees.htm

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_drying
     
  6. Stiofan

    Stiofan New Member

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