Traditional Coppicing of Hazel for Woodland Management

Why Hazel Responds So Well to the Billhook

Hazel (Corylus avellana) is the great survivor of the British woodland. Cut a stem to the ground in winter and, far from killing the tree, you wake it up. New shoots burst from the dormant buds clustered around the base, and within a season you have a handful of straight, vigorous rods. Do the same again seven or eight years later and the cycle continues, sometimes for centuries. Some hazel stools in old woods are reckoned to be many hundreds of years old, each one a living record of repeated cutting.

This is coppicing: a traditional system of woodland management that works with the tree rather than against it. It gives you a crop of usable wood and, just as importantly, it lets light flood onto the woodland floor. For anyone managing a few acres, a paddock corner or a community wood, hazel coppicing is one of the most rewarding skills you can learn.

The Light That Makes a Woodland Rich

A neglected wood closes over. The canopy knits together, the floor turns to bare earth and ivy, and the flowers that depend on spring sunshine quietly disappear. Coppicing breaks that shade at regular intervals, creating a patchwork of coupes at different stages of regrowth. The result is a mosaic of habitats, and wildlife responds fast.

• Bluebells, wood anemone and dog's mercury flower in the first few springs after cutting, before the regrowth casts shade again.
• Fritillary butterflies and other warmth-loving insects use the sunny rides and young growth.
• Nightingales, willow warblers and garden warblers nest in the dense scrubby regrowth of years two to five.
• Dormice favour the tangled, fruiting hazel stools of a working coppice, moving between coupes as they are cut in rotation.
• Bats hunt along the open corridors created between standing coupes.

The key is rotation. Cut perhaps one-tenth of your hazel each winter and you always have young, middle-aged and mature growth side by side.

Choosing Your Tools and Your Season

Coppicing is done in the dormant season, roughly from late October through to early March. Sap is down, growth has stopped, and the wood is at its most durable. Avoid cutting during a hard frost, when stems can shatter, and stop before the birds begin nesting in March.

You need surprisingly little kit:

• A sharp billhook for clean cuts on stems up to about 50mm.
• A bow saw or pruning saw for thicker material.
• Loppers for tidying and working in tight spaces.
• Stout gloves, eye protection and boots — hazel whips back with enthusiasm.
• A clearing saw or brushcutter if you are tackling years of neglected growth.

Sharpen your billhook before you start. A blunt edge bruises the wood and leaves a ragged cut that invites disease.

How to Cut a Hazel Stool Properly

Good technique is everything, because the stool must live to grow again. Work around the base and take each stem in turn. Cut with a single clean stroke where you can, angling the blade slightly so the cut slopes away from the centre of the stool. Rain should run off, not pool in the wound.

Cut close to the stool — as near to the ground as you can manage without striking soil or stones. A stump left 15cm high will die back, rot, and produce weak, misshapen regrowth. On the other hand, do not hack into the stool itself; a few centimetres of clean stem above the base is ideal.

Tidy the cut surface and clear the debris from around the stool. Leaving brash piled on top smothers the new shoots, though a light scattering of brash nearby is excellent for wildlife and keeps deer from browsing the regrowth.

Sorting the Harvest: Rods, Bindings and Firewood

A well-managed hazel coupe yields a surprising range of useful material. Sort as you work rather than dumping everything in a heap.

• Straight rods — the prize cut. Use for bean poles, pea sticks, plant supports, hurdle weaving and thatching spars.
• Medium stems — tool handles, walking sticks, besom brooms and rustic furniture.
• Thin tips and twiggy tops — bindings, besom heads and kindling.
• Brash and crooked pieces — dead hedges, habitat piles, or chipped for paths and mulch.

Bundle your rods and stand them somewhere dry and airy to season. Hazel bends beautifully while green, so if you plan to weave hurdles, do it sooner rather than later.

Aftercare, Wildlife and the Long Rotation

The first summer after cutting is the vulnerable one. Rabbits, deer and voles will happily nibble fresh shoots, so protect precious stools with a ring of brash or, where pressure is heavy, a simple guard. Keep brambles and rank grass from swamping small stools, but leave the edges of the coupe scruffy — that rough margin is where much of the wildlife lives.

A traditional rotation for hazel is somewhere between seven and fifteen years, depending on what you want from it. Short rotations produce slim rods for weaving; longer ones give thicker stems for handles and structural work. Keep a simple map or diary so you know which coupe is due next.

Coppicing is a slow conversation with a wood. Cut in winter, cut cleanly, cut close to the stool, and the hazel will answer every time — with straight rods in your hand and a carpet of bluebells at your feet.