Have you noticed what’s happening with the ash trees? Just look at this -
They’re coming down with seed this year. Free trees for everyone whether you want them or not!
Ash likes it here in the Cavan/Leitrim area where I live. Ash seedlings appear in people’s garden beds and pot plants; they come up through brambles; you find ash seeds germinating in uncovered compost heaps; along by stone walls. Mostly what we do with them is weed them out. – unless, that is, you are lucky enough to have a forest where ash seedlings appear.
All the talk in forestry circles about ash is usually about the hurley butt and it certainly has a good market there and it fetches a good price. But I think the humble ash would have a far greater future than anything we could even imagine, if it was really given the chance.
Although ash is a fairly light demanding species, in its early years it can grow quite happily under the canopy of a young broadleaved forest or in the shade of a well thinned conifer plantation. Like most broadleaved trees, ash benefits enormously from shelter.
Ash sapling (centre) growing in the shelter of pioneer species in a native woodland.
Ash is an intermediary tree, in more ways than one. For example, ash comes in after a pioneer species like the native alder or the non-native sitka spruce has done their job of colonizing bare ground. When the pioneer species is thinned and a bit of light let in, ash seedlings begin to appear in their thousands, grouping themselves into little pockets of closely sown seed.
An ocean of ash seedlings entering a recently thinned forest
Ash isn’t much good as the first tree, – it grows in every direction if planted single species on a bare field and therefor requires expensive early shaping and pruning. But if it comes into a forest of its own accord and the canopy is managed ‘little and often’ to maintain just the right amount of light, ash will grow straight and true and will require no expensive pruning or fuss.
Once ash is established it invites in, or creates the ideal conditions for oak and other slower maturing species to follow. So it can be thought of as the mediator between the pioneer species and the climax species.
And if ash were taken seriously here as a forest species tree, ash timber could also be the intermediary product that would allow the forest owner to be able to afford to grow the longer term broadleaves.
So the old adage of “If you want to grow broadleaves you must be prepared to wait for 100 years before you get any return” (how many times have I heard that said by foresters over the last 20 years?) is made a mockery of by the humble ash tree. Here is the common ash offering great returns after only 18-20 years as hurley material, and from year 15 onwards for firewood, of which ash is arguably the best.
As for the timber quality, all the internal doors in our house are made from Irish ash. Their colour and grain patterns are varied with hues from honey gold to rich brown. We are lucky to know Clarke Cunningham, (www.clarkecunningham.com/furniture.asp) who specializes in sawing Irish hardwoods and using it for joinery and to make bespoke furniture. His work is superb and he too is passionate about the value and potential of Irish ash.
Pantry doors made from Irish ash
We import nearly all our hardwood timber into Ireland, including what we need for manufacturing hurleys. Here is a hardwood tree that is easy and fast grown, is just begging to be taken seriously as a forest species, and produces beautiful and versatile timber.
Related posts:
[...] in October 2008 I wrote on the subject of ash seeds being so abundant. They could be seen in colossal quantities [...]