
Slowly the creature lumbered into the air, barely clearing the treetops of a coppiced thicket at the end of the field. There was little of wildness, only scattered thickets, and most of those neatly coppiced to provide firewood. They rode the track between coppiced stands, the path gently rising towards what Itkovian judged to be an escarpment of some kind.

Korlat rode to where Whiskeyjack had halted beneath the tree-lined crest that marked the beginning of the coppiced parkland, and drew rein alongside him. Morgen was out of sight when the Saint got outside, but the blundering and crashing of his flight could be heard distinctly in the coppice to the left, and Simon's brain was working like a comptometer nowwhen it was a little late. That when the lord of the said manor doth cut down any, or either of the said coppices, he, by the custom, is not compellable to fence the same for seven years after such cutting, nor to suffer the same to lie open. They determined on walking round Beechen Cliff, that noble hill whose beautiful verdure and hanging coppice render it so striking an object from almost every opening in Bath. There were orchards and well-tended herb gardens, as also carefully managed coppices and lightly wooded areas where wild boar and deer roamed. The three-bedroomed cottage, which had electricity and a view out across open country to Letterbox and Fingerpost Fields, Yewtree Coppice and Stone Redding, lay on the outskirts of Much Marcle at a bend on the Dymock road, and it was here, at the age of barely twenty, that she bore her fourth child, and her first daughter, whom she called Little Daisy.Įven the mistress herself, so wise at the outset, finally flung prudence to the winds, and skirmished through the coppices with enthusiasm equal to that of her pupils, lured from the pathway by the glimpses of kingcups, or the pursuit of a peacock butterfly. No matter what the tree is, the poplar of France, or the brookside willow or oak coppice of England, or the chestnuts or mulberries of Italy, all are interesting when being pruned, or when pruned just lately. When I first arrived, sitting at the same desk and looking out of the same window, the view was of a patchwork of small fields, some edged with trees, one with a large pond in the middle and over to the far left of my vista was a very charming coppice of ancient broadleaf native trees. The age of a stool may be estimated from its diameter, and some are so large-perhaps as much as 5.4 metres (18 ft) across-that they are thought to have been continually coppiced for centuries.On a shelf of smooth stone overhanging a deep pool in the hollow of an oak coppice a boy of about sixteen lay asprawl, drying his wet brown limbs luxuriously in the sun. Birch can be coppiced for faggots on a three- or four-year cycle, whereas oak can be coppiced over a fifty-year cycle for poles or firewood.Ĭoppicing maintains trees at a juvenile stage, and a regularly coppiced tree will never die of old age some coppice stools may therefore reach immense ages. The cycle length depends upon the species cut, the local custom, and the use to which the product is put. Coppicing has the effect of providing a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of different-aged coppice growing in it, which is beneficial for biodiversity. In this way, a crop is available each year somewhere in the woodland. Typically a coppiced woodland is harvested in sections or coups on a rotation. Many of the English-language terms referenced in this article are particularly relevant to historic and contemporary practice in that area.

The widespread and long-term practice of coppicing as a landscape-scale industry is something that remains of special importance in southern England. Many silviculture practices involve cutting and regrowth coppicing has been of significance in many parts of lowland temperate Europe. Pollarding is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree. New growth emerges and after a number of years, the coppiced tree is harvested and the cycle begins anew. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level, known as a stool. Wikipedia (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition:Ĭoppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down.
