Ash die-back

[principal skinner]

Looking at 30 acres of mixed woodland today, was told not to bother leaving any ash standing after the thin/fell as it would all be dead in ten years

 

[jonny]

Living here beside the original site in Ireland where ash dieback was first noticed 7 years ago there’s hardly any trees untouched by it This year a lot of the smaller trees seemed to die off and the tops break off in the hot weather but later in the year they started to sprout again from lower down and a new growth came , is that just a dying kick or is it that they die in stages?

 

[MF 168]

There's a nice few Ash trees dotted around the farm here. All are well matured now. There's one outside the house and it must 5 or 6ft across. It lost a limb a few years ago that was itself the size of a good tree. A few more down the farm that are monsters as well and are the biggest ones around these parts by some margin. I haven't noticed anything wrong with them or the smaller trees but then again I haven't really been looking either.
An Ash plantation not far from me had to be destroyed last year as it was wiped out with dieback. And the farmer has to replant it and at his own cost.

 

[ollie989898]

Acrually the first infected trees i; the country were found locally on a planting scheme undertaken by the Suffolk wildlife trust.
It was a couple of miles from a tree nursery which went bust a few years ago thanks to imported trees.
We never learn, in the UK we could certainly have banned the importation of all trees on health grounds. 50 years ago the UK was widely recognised across the world as having some of the highest plant and animal health standards.
This has all been chucked away for what? Free trade?

Its not free trade. Its EU trade- do as we say because we said so trade.

 

[Exfarmer]

It was not foisted upon us by the EU it was our own decision to allow the relaxation of our phyto sanitary rules. The only rule the EU said was, we must apply equal measures across the EU.there are probably at least a dizen diseases , especially Ramularia, where we could stop imports dead. A similar situation arose with Rhizomania, which could have been easily prevented by the insistence on no soil imports, so everything had to be washed first, especially plant roots

 

[dt995]

I recall reading a book about plant resistance by Raoul A. Robinson[1]. On looking at his bibliography, it must have been Return to Resistance: Breeding Crops to Reduce Pesticide Dependency[2].

In it he talked about horizontal vs vertical resistances to disease[3][4], and his experience of helping farmers who were struggling with a disease that was destroying coffee plantations.

I don't think he would think it hopeless to try to save Ash in this country. Specimens that resist it even incompletely would provide a valuable place to start.

It had a big effect on me, but I don't see it or its principles mentioned much, so maybe I was misguided.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_A._Robinson
[2] http://sharebooks.com/content/plant-breeding-ebooks-raoul-robinson
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_resistance
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_resistance

 

[britt]

I remember the elms being felled, and they were much bigger and more numerous than ash around here. Their space still has not been filled.
We have a large conker tree in the garden which has become infested with the leaf miner which started its spread up the country about 10 years ago, it gets weaker every year and won't last much longer, along with the ones in the neighbouring wood.

 

[Try to succeed]

I’ve not noticed any die back here, yet. However when it does reach us (north Notts) it will be devastating. 80% of my woodlands are mature ash. It’d be a massive undertaking to fell the morning and replant with other species. It is all quiet and forgotten about and no one cares by sounds of it

 

[renewablejohn]

I’ve not noticed any die back here, yet. However when it does reach us (north Notts) it will be devastating. 80% of my woodlands are mature ash. It’d be a massive undertaking to fell the morning and replant with other species. It is all quiet and forgotten about and no one cares by sounds of it

Certainly not forgotton about in our village. Parish Councillor was wanting to go crazy with TPO's around the village. She got very little sympathy when I let rip into her stating the obvious that the majority of the trees in the village are Ash and would be dead within the next 5 years and would need to be removed. Thankfully other members of the Parish council agreed and dumped the absurd TPO idea and instead a proactive stance on tree planting prior to losing the Ash.

 

[penntor]

Does anybody know if ash dieback affects other trees. I have an elder and a sycamore that are both showing similar symptoms, lack of leaves and bare dead twigs.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Does anybody know if ash dieback affects other trees. I have an elder and a sycamore that are both showing similar symptoms, lack of leaves and bare dead twigs.

We have sycamore doing the same. Not sure if it's drought stress or disease.
Tips of ash looking sad are yellowish. Is that die back fungus/mould?

 

[renewablejohn]

Does anybody know if ash dieback affects other trees. I have an elder and a sycamore that are both showing similar symptoms, lack of leaves and bare dead twigs.

Unfortunately most trees can suffer from some sort of disease but your local tree surgeon will be able to put you in contact with an expert who can identify what the tree is suffering from they might even be able to do it themselves.

 

[GAM]

We have the same happening, I thought it was the salt living by the coast!

 

[Gong Farmer]

Maples and sycamores round here go like that because the squirrels prefer them. Some ash are being damaged by squirrels but they prefer the maples.