Garden Objective: firewood

According to The Plan, one of my garden objectives is to provide firewood for barbecues.  Last month we paid a big chunk of cash to get a mature tree felled in our back garden--this wood was cut and is now stacked for drying, though the larger diameter logs will not be dry enough for at least a year, possibly two.  We also have a huge pile of sticks and twiggy bits which might be ready by summer, if kept dry.  The wood from this tree (a sycamore, also called a sycamore maple) should keep us in firewood for several years.

However, this was a pretty expensive way of providing for firewood!  We have one other mature tree out back which may be subject to the same fate in the future, but I plan to set up a much cheaper supply of homegrown wood through a coppicing system.  I already have the trees set up for such a coppice, too.

There is the remains of a hawthorn hedge at the back of the property (planted by a previous owner) which had overgrown quite badly at one point;   the husband cut it all down to about waist height several years ago and I have been trimming it once a year (in winter) to keep it under control.

Now I plan to change the system.  Instead of cutting each hawthorn tree every year, I will allow growth on them for several years and begin a rotation for harvest.  It will be a five year rotation--or even longer--and I will cut the growth of just one tree each year.  Instead of big logs it will be smaller diameter wood, but suitable for barbecue and other small fires.

Hawthorn is a vigorous grower and hard to kill, which is why it makes a good hedge.  The wood is dense and burns hot--it's a hardwood--though it's also very thorny:  a little problematic for firewood but workable for my own situation and needs.  Although the hedge will begin to cast some shade as the hawthorns grow for longer between trimming, it shouldn't be an issue:  it will only affect a small part of the perennials section and luckily not the main veg beds. 

Hopefully this system will provide me with a small but regular amount of good firewood for as long as I care to keep it up.