Trees for Timber and Firewood

Why Grow Your Own Timber and Firewood?

Native tree plantations are places to enjoy. They are shady places to stroll through in summer and shelter farmland and home gardens in winter. They also provide valuable habitat for our unique wildlife and provide shade and shelter to crops, pasture and livestock.

Plantations and woodlots can be designed to provide a renewable source of timber for firewood, fencing, and construction. Well-designed and managed plantations improve property values, provide long- term economic returns, and reduce your carbon footprint.

The average family home in cooler areas like the Southern Highlands uses eight tonnes of firewood to fuel a slow combustion stove each year.

A block of 100 trees planted in a 20m by 20m area would yield eight tonnes of wood, in areas with fertile soil and good rainfall. This means you need to plant 100 trees each year for 10 years if you want to have self-sufficient heating. You can begin harvesting trees for firewood in the fifth year.

An effective way to produce an ongoing source of firewood is to grow trees that will naturally coppice after being cut. Many species of Eucalyptus, Acacias, Casuarinas, and Allocasuarina will reshoot from the stump, producing multiple trunks which can then be harvested.

Any tree will burn but hardwoods provide excellent firewood because their wood is dense and burns with an even heat.

Once cut, the wood should be allowed to dry out for a year or two to maximise heating value.

Acacia binervata	Two Veined Hickory
Acacia dealbata	Silver Wattle
Acacia decurrens	Early Black Wattle
Acacia elata	Cedar Wattle
Acacia mearnsii	Black Wattle
Acacia melanoxylon	Blackwood
Acacia parramattensis	Parramatta Wattle
Allocasuarina littoralis	Black She-Oak
Allocasuarina torulosa	Forest She-Oak
Allocasuarina verticillata	Drooping She-Oak
Casuarina cunninghamiana	River She-Oak
Eucalyptus cypellocarpa	Mountain Grey Gum
Eucalyptus fastigata	Brown Barrel
Eucalyptus globoidea	White Stringybark
Eucalyptus globulus maidenii	Maiden’s Gum
Eucalyptus macarthurii	Paddy’s River Box
Eucalyptus obliqua	Messmate
Eucalyptus punctata	Grey Gum
Eucalyptus quadrangulata	White Topped Box
Eucalyptus saligna	Sydney Blue Gum
Eucalyptus sclerophylla	Scribbly Gum
Eucalyptus viminalis	Ribbon Gum
Melaleuca armillaris	Bracelet Honey Myrtle
Melaleuca linariifolia	Flax Leaf Paperbark
Melaleuca styphelioides	Prickly Paperbark