[juliem]

My hedge cutter tells me that my mature oaks( 50yrs old ) are valuable.This is because they are in the middle of a field  as opposed to in the hedge (where there is a risk of nails/staples from fencing.)
Does anyone have any experience of selling trees  for timber?

[Kiran]

Following this with interest, we've got ancient woodland than needs copicing. Its majority oak and where one area has been done the new stuff is growing back strong and straight and the whole area looks stunning. I can take the others out for copicing purposes but sure there would be more value in timber than in firewood

[Fleecewife]

Don't forget the wildlife value as well as the financial one.  It is usual to leave some standards when coppicing to protect the new growth.
Stand-alone oaks in the middle of a field, as long as the roots have not been damaged by ploughing (which will kill the tree slowly), are a habitat for the most amazing community of creatures, a whole ecosystem in one tree. They also provide shelter for livestock and landscape amenity ie beauty. Please think very carefully before felling a mature oak.
It's worth checking out the rules about felling trees before making your decision.


Trees for farm health | Understanding carbon and emissions | Climate and weather | Agriculture Victoria

[harmony]

You can sell standing wood but also why would you want to do that with your oak? Not going to repeat what Fleecewife has already said but do you really have to or need to?

[Rupert the bear]

50 years old !!!! its a youngster .
Its only value is to the wildlife, environment and its majestic beauty regardless of what looks like .

Or is your  hedge cutter after the timber himself ? Sure it would be valuable (to him ) then, funny he mentions the nails /staples.
If its not diseased or dangerous leave it alone for the next 250 years , then it will be mature.

[Anke]

Please do not sell your oaks, fence them off from livestock (sheep will still noibble the bark) and enjoy them!


The most useful thing they provide for your sheep is shade right now!

[Glencairn]

A farmer near me got fined after he sold a standing oak.

It turned out it had a tree preservation order on it and the local authority went after him for it.

I'm not saying that would apply to many of the smallholders on here, but its definitely worth considering before you sell a tree.

[juliem]

The tree in question is part of a group of trees which originally self seeded in a garden to my cottage.I think the occupants back then (pre 1970) kind of abandoned the garden which gave the young oaks a chance to establish themselves.It was only during the 1980 s that the very large garden was fenced off to become grazing pasture.The oaks survived the introduction of cattle  and now provide excellent shelter for sheep.They have thrived but one in particular is very high(probably because they've had to compete for light)It is also quite close to the house and obstructs light to my solar panels in the mornings.It has split into 2..so I do wonder how it will develop.
I have another very large oak in my rockery but the telephone wires carefully thread through it..so too complicated to take that down.I have a damson tree coming out of the foundations of my house which  must be 60 years old but it's got to go because it's overhanging my oil tank.
I have 12 acres and  my son  has planted a lot of oaks over the years usually in hedges. He's been quite successful but it makes if complicated cutting hedges until they are well established .I think my children when they were young had a tree house in this particular tree so there goes the theory of having no nails in trees in the middle of fields.
The only bad experience I've had was when I rented a field for horses and they stripped off the bark of a mature horse chestnut tree.They killed it. Never again will I rent out for horses.We have a lot of different oaks included a 100 year old plus dead oak.I suspect the lightening hit it a few years ago but the general consensus is that you leave them ( as long as not dangerous) as they are still part of the landscape.

[Fleecewife]

Not only part of the landscape @juliem but still a habitat for wildlife.  Dead trees and rotting wood give homes to all sorts of beetles and other insects, nesting holes for solitary and bumble bees, nesting sites for birds and bats which need holes, perches for birds, especially birds of prey, but also blackbirds and robins which love to shout out their glorious songs from the top. Even when a dead tree falls it carries on providing for other things to grow.  The wood rots down returning the carbon to the Earth, it provides shelter for new trees to grow, flowers and fungi to thrive. Creatures which live in or on dead wood are struggling these days because of our tendency to clear up 'mess' which includes dead trees.


Your split tree may well not be good enough for big timber, depending on why it split, but yes, at only 50 years these trees are still babies compared to what they will become. I appreciate your dilemma when some trees are growing into or over your house.  Snuggled up to the foundations is a favourite site for tree seeds to germinate.  We have a couple here too, luckily only an ash and an elder, but any tree seeds which germinate in my rockery get the heave-o straight away, or at least are carefully dug out and planted somewhere they are wanted.


Well done to your son for planting oaks in the hedgerows.  They are a nuisance at hedging time - we mark a white spot in paint on the fence post nearest to each standard tree so we can leave that as the hedge cutter reaches it.  It's a real nuisance but the care you take now will pay off in years to come, even when the hedge has gone the oaks will still be standing to mark the hedge line.