Leylandii, apple and pear trees for logs

Annie1960

I will be getting my rather huge leylandii hedge trimmed to about half its current size (it's about three times the height of my house). Also, I will be getting an old apple and pear tree removed.

Should I get the logs removed by the company that does this work, or are the logs good for burning? I think I asked this question about leylandii on this forum, and the response was I would need to season them for two years. I'm not sure about apple and pear, though.

EssexExile

I give them to neighbours as I don't have a woodburner, I've had no complaints. Perhaps I have polite neighbours.

MX5huggy

There is a lot of rubbish talked about good wood for burning, when it's free all wood is good for burning you might want to be a bit picky when paying for wood. You will need to dry all the wood the longer the better but it should be fine for the winter after this one. The only thing worse than a laylandi tree is half a laylandi, get the weed taken off at ground level.

Annie1960

MX5huggy wrote: »

The only thing worse than a laylandi tree is half a laylandi, get the weed taken off at ground level.

It would be difficult to remove all the leylandii as all the houses on this row have them between our road and the road behind. The gardens are big. However, the one I've just bought has trees that have not been cut like a hedge - all the others have, so mine look very odd. It would be even odder to remove them completely!

Babbawah

I've never burnt leylandii because there is very little heat in it, even the big stuff.

Please be aware that apple is the absolute ultimate fuel for any wood burning fire, I'm quite sure that your tree surgeon will be happy to dispose of it FOC.

Ectophile

Leylandii burns fine if you season it long enough. It's too sappy to burn after only one year. Like any conifer, it burns quite quickly when it is properly seasoned.

But when you cut one down, you'll most likely find you have a vast pile of twigs and leaves, and a few scruffy little logs.

Annie1960

How do I season the logs? Can I leave them outside at the bottom of the garden, or do they have to be kept inside?

MX5huggy

Outside is best as the drying wind passed trough the stack but you need to protect from rain. A piece of corrugated iron on top is perfect, tarpaulin or plastic being the alternative. The bottom logs should be off ground, on pallets or similar but you can just except the bottom logs won't dry and re stack them to dry another year. You could buy or build a log store.

km1423

If you are cutting trees down now bear in mind the sap will be high.

Leylandii will need to be seasoned for 2 years preferably outdoors, under cover, until fully dried it will have a sticky residue on the bark and if using in a multi fuel appliance this won't be good for your flue, and its only a softwood.

As for Pear/Apple get them cut and split quickly, depending on the size you may be able to burn them next winter 2016. Outdoor drying is always the quickest method when stacked "Jenga" style. You can use a pallet to make a log store, cheaper than buying. It is important to keep logs off the ground and allow air from below, and the sides/back

On my pallet, I use the Jenga method on outer sides for stability, then fill the centre, and I always place logs barks side up (bark is the wood's natural protection). Cover the top/sides of log pile with a tarp to protect from rain and hold it down with spare roofing tiles/bungees or something heavy. Only cover a quarter of the way down so still allowing air to pass through and around wood. In the summer I take tarp off completely - sometimes I can even hear the wood cracking as it dries out.

However you decide to dry your logs, to ensure that they are drying out/dry look for radial cracks at the ends of the logs if doing it by eye, or invest in a good moisture meter, looking for readings at 18% or lower.

Annie1960

Thanks, KM. I plan to cut them down in the autumn or winter.

Rotor

If they are definitely coming down then consider ring barking them now to kill them so they will dry out quite a lot over this summer whilst standing. (Unless you want the fruit this autumn of course)