Larch has plenty going for it: a warm, honeyed tone that weathers to silver-grey, useful natural durability in the heartwood, and enough homegrown supply that you can often buy it from a mill an hour's drive away rather than off a lorry from the continent. The complication is that "larch" covers several species with noticeably different properties, and the trade spans two-man sawmills, provincial timber merchants and national online sellers. Knowing which is which — and what to ask before you order — saves money, time and a second delivery.
Work out your specification before you ring anyone
Cladding, fencing, a shed frame and a garden bench all ask different things of the same tree, and the answers change which supplier makes sense. Write down the essentials first, because a mill can quote you far more accurately in two minutes than in twenty.
- Species. European, Japanese, hybrid and Siberian larch differ in density and durability. Siberian is generally slower grown and denser; much British-grown stock is Japanese or hybrid larch.
- Application and grade. Cladding wants heartwood-rich boards. Fencing tolerates more sapwood. Anything load-bearing needs graded timber.
- Dimensions and quantity. Sawn sizes in millimetres, or machined profiles quoted by coverage. Be clear whether you are buying cubic metres, linear metres or square metres of finished face.
- Moisture content. Green, air-dried and kiln-dried timber behave differently on site, particularly for cladding and joinery.
- Timing. Sawmills work to felling and drying cycles, not to your bank holiday weekend.
Homegrown larch: start with a sawmill
If you want British larch with a known origin, a sawmill is usually your best bet. Many are small operations that sell sawn boards, waney-edge lengths and sometimes machined cladding, often air-dried rather than kiln-dried. Minimum orders can be modest, collection is common, and delivery can usually be arranged for a price.
Finding them takes a little legwork, because the good ones rarely advertise well:
- Trade bodies and forestry organisations, including Confor, the Timber Trade Federation and the Small Woods Association, plus regional woodland groups.
- Local foresters, woodland owners and tree surgeons, who usually know who is milling within thirty miles.
- Agricultural shows, farm sales and country auctions, where mills often turn up with a stack of boards.
- Search for "sawmill" plus your county rather than "larch supplier". The smaller outfits simply do not describe themselves that way online.
Expect green or air-dried timber, generous tolerances and a bit of character in the boards. That is part of the appeal — and part of the planning.
Timber merchants and builders' merchants
Merchants are the sensible route when you want consistent sizes, machined profiles and reliable delivery. Many stock larch cladding, planed square lengths and treated fencing components, and they will usually take back surplus from a standard stock line.
The trade-off is transparency. A merchant may substitute one larch species for another without making a fuss, and staff behind the counter may not know where the timber was grown. Ask specifically which species is in stock and whether it is British-grown or imported. Get the price basis in writing, because per-linear-metre and per-square-metre-of-coverage figures are not the same thing once you allow for overlap.
Online and national suppliers
For small quantities, unusual profiles or a sample board, online sellers are hard to beat. The risk is buying timber you have not seen. Before committing to a large order, ask for photographs of the actual batch, a written grade description and the moisture content. Order a sample or a single board first, and check the tolerance on thickness and width.
Delivery matters more than it sounds. A pallet of wet larch is heavy, and kerbside delivery means exactly that. Confirm whether a tail-lift is included, whether the driver can get onto a gravel drive, and who is expected to move the load.
Regional patterns worth knowing
Supply varies considerably across the UK, and it is worth understanding your local picture before you start ringing round.
Scotland and northern England
This is where most British softwood sawmilling capacity sits, and larch grows well on upland sites. You will find the widest choice of homegrown stock, often air-dried and available in small or large quantities.
Wales and the borders
Smaller mills, often mixing hardwood and softwood, are useful for modest orders and bespoke machining. Lead times can be longer, but the timber is often traceable to a specific wood.
Southern England and East Anglia
Larch grows here, but sawmilling is patchier. Expect to buy imported Siberian or kiln-dried European larch through merchants, or to pay a premium for a local mill's output.
Provenance questions to ask every supplier
Provenance is not a slogan; it is a set of facts a good supplier can answer without looking anything up. Ask:
- Which species is it — European, Japanese, hybrid or Siberian larch?
- Where was the timber grown and felled? Is it UK-grown or imported?
- Is it certified, and can you see a chain of custody certificate number?
- What proportion is heartwood, and is sapwood included or excluded?
- Is it green, air-dried or kiln-dried, and at what moisture content?
- What grade is it, and what tolerances apply to sizes and lengths?
- Has it been treated, with what, and to which standard?
- Is the price per cubic metre, linear metre or square metre of coverage, and does it include VAT and delivery?
- What is the lead time, and what happens if boards arrive twisted, split or undersized?
If you need larch for a load-bearing use, raise strength grading early. British-grown larch is not automatically graded for structural applications, and a helpful supplier will tell you what documentation they can provide rather than let you assume.
How to vet a supplier quickly
Start small. A single board or a sample pack tells you more about grading, machining and packing than any brochure. Ask for photographs of the stack you will actually receive, and for one or two references from customers with similar projects. If a supplier is within reach, visit — seeing how timber is stacked and dried tells you a great deal about how it will behave once it is on your site.
Be wary of vagueness. A seller who cannot name the species, the country of origin or the moisture content is unlikely to resolve a problem later. Equally, treat unusually cheap "British larch" with curiosity rather than delight; the numbers usually explain themselves once you ask the right questions. And if you are buying for a contract, a commercial project or anything with warranties attached, take professional advice on specification and grading before you commit.
A sensible order of play
Decide your species, grade, dimensions and moisture requirement. Search for sawmills within an hour's drive, then widen to merchants and national suppliers. Ring three or four, ask the provenance questions above, and compare quotes on the same basis — same species, same grade, same moisture, same delivery terms. Order a sample. Then place the order with enough slack in the programme for drying, machining and the possibility that one or two boards get rejected on arrival.
Do that, and larch stops being a gamble and becomes simply a good material, bought well.
