Coppice woodland in late summer

Coppice woodland in August, Ashwellthorpe Wood, Norfolk UK. Coppice-with-standards is a traditional woodland management technique. Standard trees - here, Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) are left to grow, and the remaining coppice trees - usually ash or hazel (Corylus avellana) - are cut to the ground every 10 years or so. This provides a supply of small wood for tool handles, hurdles and fencing. A large coppice wood is divided into a series of areas (coups) that are cut in different years, ensuring a continuous supply of small wood products. The picture shows a coup which was cut in the previous winter. The coppiced stools of ash and hazel have produced luxuriant growth since being cut to the ground. This growth is very attractive to large herbivores such as deer; at this site they are excluded by means of solar-powered electric fencing, visible crossing the lower half of the picture