What to do with our hardwoods

Since the mid-1980s, over 70,000ha of hardwoods have been established in Ireland to bring the total area to 218,000ha.

At least 87,000ha of hardwoods can be discounted as commercial timber producers, including 24,000ha of ash and 63,000ha of species such as willow, hazel, mountain ash and blackthorn, referred to as ‘short-living’ species in the National Forest Inventory (NFI).

There is no inventory available to determine the quality, age and availability of the remaining 131,000ha, which comprise oak (20,000ha), beech (11,000ha), sycamore (10,500ha), birch (58,000ha), alder (20,000ha) and other ‘long-living’ broadleaves (11,000ha) including sweet – or Spanish – chestnut, lime, cherry and maple.

IFO hardwood events

Without a quality inventory, it is difficult to assess the suitability of our hardwood resource for end-uses such as furniture, panelling, flooring, joinery and wood turnery.

These were some of the issues explored during a series of Irish Forest Owners (IFO) nationwide information sessions and demonstration events held over the past five months.

While hardwoods were the main species discussed, the events also looked at high-value conifers such as Douglas fir and larch. Organised by IFO chair Derek McCabe and national co-ordinator Olive Leavy, the events explored hardwood management, sawmilling and marketing.

Part-funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under its Forestry Promotion Projects scheme, the following events – from March to July – provide a snapshot of the challenges and opportunities facing hardwood growers and producers.

Neil Willis of Kiln-Dried Hardwoods (KDH) Ltd, provides a mobile sawmilling service throughout Ireland, as well as purchasing logs and kiln-drying hardwood planks.

Based in Delgany, Co Wicklow, he demonstrated the versatility of his mobile sawmill in Lisnavagh, which is capable of sawing large hardwood logs up to 1.2m (47 inches) in diameter. He saws to the client’s specifications in thickness and length.

The planks are air-dried by William Bunbury in his drying sheds, which is an essential but costly part of the exercise.

“The drying period depends on the thickness of the board, which needs a year for every inch of thickness to reach 19% moisture content – one-inch planks need one year and two-inch planks take two years, and so on,” he explains.

When logs are ready for sale, he finishes off the drying in the kiln which brings the moisture content down to 12% but depending on end use may need to be as low as 8%.

One of the advantages of hardwoods is their range of end uses as demonstrated at Lisnavagh, where the products range from large-scale planks for construction and table-tops down to the popular range of Bunbury Boards.

These unique chopping boards contain not only the name of the species but its history from planted year up to the date when it was windblown.

Marketing and promotion

The second part of the Lisnavagh field day involved a discussion on how best to promote hardwoods in Ireland, especially marketing and pricing.

Irish architects, designers and wood workers who are now using more wood in building, furniture and other applications would prefer to use homegrown hardwoods. However, most purchase imported hardwoods because they have consistency in quality and moisture content, as well as being readily available in the required sizes, species and quantities.

The group discussed how producers and small hardwood sawmillers could increase market share.

Currently, many producers refer potential buyers to other producers if unable to supply orders but this is carried out on an ad-hoc basis.

It is likely that the next stage of the IFO initiative will focus on achieving a more cohesive approach in marketing and promoting homegrown hardwoods.

It’s now almost 20 years since COFORD – the National Council for Forest Research and Development – launched Hardwood Matters, which was designed to help growers, processors and customers to tap into the hardwood market.

Growers with hardwoods for sale were invited to email sale lots at the time, while timber processors, manufacturers and other woodworkers who needed hardwoods could also contact COFORD.

The service was free and was distributed widely to relevant stakeholders.

Now might be a good time to revive Hardwood Matters as the recent IFO field days indicate that there is a need for such an initiative.

While interest in Hardwood Matters declined over the years, many excellent publications were produced by COFORD, including a Guide to Irish Hardwoods by Gordon Knaggs and Stella Xenopoulou with contributions from Seamus Heaney and Gavin Munro, which is still available (Google ‘COFORD hardwoods’ for this and other hardwood publications).

The guide provides comprehensive details on alder, ash, beech, birch, cherry, elm, oak, poplar, sweet – or Spanish – chestnut, sycamore, walnut and yew which although botanically classified as a conifer, is as the guide points out “harder and heavier than most hardwoods”.

The Irish whitebeam (Sorbus hibernica) is not only native but also endemic, which means it “is confined to a limited locality,” according to Charles Nelson, the botanist and author who died last May.

“Irish whitebeam is an elegant, small tree with beautiful silvery leaf buds, resembling small magnolia blossoms as they expand,” he wrote in Trees of Ireland – Native and Naturalised. It is found mainly in limestone areas in central Ireland, but has been recorded in 15 counties in all.

Because it is unique to Ireland and scarce, it is listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of threatened species.

Brendan Lacey, Irish Timber Growers Association (ITGA), chair, presented the OPW with a S hibernica, during a recent field day in Emo Court.

“It was grown by ITGA member Joe Deering, from a small number of wild whitebeams found outside Killeigh, Co Offaly,” he said.

“Surveys suggest that a population size of a just a few hundred mature individuals are in the wild in Ireland, said Donal Whelan, ITGA technical director.

“The association is encouraging the preservation of our rare native tree species,” he added.