It’s not our job to police people’s pronunciation, but someone in the office said the noun “a coppice” the same way as the verb “to coppice”.
Sharon was all “oh my Gosh, I can’t believe you just done that at work”.
A coppice, or copse, is a group of trees grown for the purpose of coppicing: harvesting their wood on a cycle of several years by cutting them down to a low stump, which regenerates.
The act of coppicing is pronounced how it sounds, but the coppiced woodland area itself is pronounced “copse”, even when spelt “coppice”.
Here is the UK Forestry Commission pronouncing it like a city slicker:
I offer it to you, Dear Reader, to decide whether to put your faith in the Forestry Commission, or old Jack Hargreaves.
Coppice used to be a productive fixture on most rural properties: overwhelmingly Hazel, with some Ash for bigger wood. Now that Ash gets dieback, your closest alternative is Sycamore.
They are all vigorous and respond generously to being coppiced, forming a nice stool.
During the 20th century, coppices were in decline: either replaced by field, or left to grow unmanaged. People simply do not need much of that type of wood any more, although hazel hurdles still look smashing and what a way to keep the kids busy:
Planting a Coppice in Modern Britain
The modern coppice making a comeback is the Short Rotation Coppice, intended for biomass energy production.
They are invariably planted with hybrid willows and poplars, which grow monstrously fast. They are easy to propagate in the field from cuttings, and can be acquired in abundance at harvest time from other SRC’ers, or bought as unrooted ‘setts’.
We don’t sell those super-vigorous hybrids, only the “regular vigorous” natural willow and poplar.
Is Coppicing Right for Me in 2025?
Without knowing you at all, I feel like yes, coppicing will be great for you in 2025: that is not medical advice, always use protection.
Maybe ease yourself into some gentle coppicing at first to get the coppice juices flowing and avoid “coppice knee”, then coppice more as your confidence coppicing out in the coppice increases.
Coppicing the coppiced coppice,
Coppice.