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There is some land we have doing nothing, and the idea of being semi-sustainable long-term in firewood is attractive. I believe in the northern UK, silver birch is a good choice for fast growing firewood, but realistically how many years does it take to have a trunk thick enough to use for firewood? I guess we'd say the trunk needs to be 4-6".

Is it feasible that if I planted a copse of trees now, I could be harvesting in 10 years? How many such trees would likely be needed to burn over a winter e.g. kgs of wood per tree per year.

Is this realistically something I can do or are we talking multiple decades?

Mr. Boy
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1 Answers1

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It depends on the species. Some are fast growers, others are slow growers.

My grandparents have planted black locusts (Robinia pseudoacacia) to border a small garden they had. The trees were growing fast and then parts of them were cut for firewood because of its high heat content. These trees have an invasive habit and they are kept from invading by tilling the soil in the garden every autumn.

Other people have planted dense forests on small areas and they completely cut the trees after 10-15 years. They also use a claw-like machinery that I don't know what it's called, to easily dig up the roots that are also used as firewood. These dense forests rapidly grow in height because early branches are removed and the trees have the tendency to reach for the light. Lately they plant thornless black locusts.

Alina
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