Larch wood, the "oak" of conifers

I spoke to a young man who was planning to build a holiday home out of larch wood. He pointed out to me that I hadn't written anything about larch wood. I promised him that I would do it soon and now I am keeping my promise.

The larch is also known to us by the names of larch, larch or lily. Thirteen types of larch are known, but the one found here is Larix decidua. It grows naturally in central and eastern Europe, hence the name European larch. It was first cultivated in the 18th century in Britain.

The tree grows 25-45 m tall, with a diameter of 0.6-1 m. Rarely it can reach up to 55 m tall and 2 m in diameter. It can live between 100 and 350 years, with an average age of 200 years. It is a conifer, the only one in our country with drooping leaves. At first the crown is conical, but as it ages it becomes straighter and straighter. The leaves are in the form of green needles spiralling at the end of the leaflets. In autumn the needles change colour to a beautiful orange-yellow. The tree is very resistant to low temperatures down to -50 degrees Celsius and drought. It is mostly found from 1000 m altitude and can reach up to 2400 m.

Larch wood is harder compared to similar species - fir, spruce - which is why it is also called "oak". resinous. It is rich in resin which makes it resistant to mould attack and gives the wood a pleasant, distinctive smell during processing. The resin also gives the wood a greasy, oily feel.

In cross-section the areas of sapwood and heartwood are very well defined. The sapwood area is very light in colour, almost white, and the heartwood can range from dark yellowish white to scarlet red to brown.

The fibre is straight or coiled and the texture is medium to fine. Larch also has knots, but not as many as pine and smaller.

In mechanical processing the resin can form gums on the saw blade and in sanding, due to the large difference in hardness between late and early wood, the surface can remain uneven, wavy. Because early wood can be easily removed, it lends itself well to texturing and sandblasting. The wood is used as both solid and veneer.

Larch wood is hard, weather and moisture resistant and flexible, making it a very good material for house building. The further north it grows, the stronger it is. For example, Siberian larch is one of the most widely used species for house building.

It is used both as a log for wall construction and as a plank for cladding. Because of its qualities it is a more expensive wood than other softwoods. It is recommended that, even if it is not possible to make the whole house out of larch, it should be used for the load-bearing structure.

It is a very good wood for building boats and yachts. For luxury yachts they use knotless wood, specially grown for this purpose. The branches are removed when the wood is young by a special process so that no knots form as it grows.

Apart from construction and craft, larch wood is also used for decking and flooring,

of garden furniture

and even interior furniture.

The high resin content makes decking wood quite resistant to moisture and mould attack, even untreated.

It is not a wood that is commonly used for furniture, but there are designers or manufacturers who prefer it for more special designs. In our country it is very little used for furniture and mostly by craftsmen, for special things, not in mass production.

If you are curious about larch wood, you will see that it exists in Japan, Canada and the USA. Although they share many common elements, each of these species has its own peculiarities determined by the growing area. There are 5 natural centres of larch in our country: the Arieș valley - where there is also a larch nature reserve - the Bucegi, Ceahlău, Ciucaș and Lotru mountains.