In the news: Ash disease

[Brian Williamson]

On BBC Radio 4 "Saving Species" has a program about this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... woodlands/
It includes a couple of bits from Oliver Rackham talking, what seems to me, to be profound good sence.
A rather more long term view, rather than running around shouting "Don't panic"

Should be compulsory listening for a lot of people who claim to be concerned about our woodland heritage. Peter Marren, in particular, is talking a lot of sense about the pitfalls of largescale tree planting. I've long had a bee in my bonnet about this - people (the Woodland Trust are particularly culpable) do it because it is 'sexy'. The local press will come out and photograph schoolchildren doing it. You can raise money for it. It extends our woodland cover (define a woodland, please).

They ignore the fact that trees self-seed. That self-seeding trees will produce a remarkably good impression of natural successsion (my god! perhaps it is natural succession!) And that what is sadly lacking is more management of our existing woodlands.

I have, as you may gather, little sympathy for tree planting and it seems that it is coming back to haunt us (though I will conceed that it was not intentional).

It seems as though 'wait and see' is pretty much our only recourse with the ash. Let's hope that genetic diversity and natural resistance keeps the problem on a smaller scale than may be the case.

Brian.

[Tom B]

I heard a quote along the lines of 'Man can make a plantation, only god can create a woodland'
I think they were refering to the mycorrhizal webs and complexity that take decades or even centuries to appear in planted 'woodland'

[monkeeboy]

It's also worth listening to More or Less on R4 last Friday;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ny0fc

Turns out the media have massively exaggerated die back!

As Homer Simpson once said;

"Statistics can prove anything, forfty percent of people know that".

The big question I have is should I coppice about half an acre of pure Ash this winter or not?
If I do, and the lush regrowth becomes infected next summer, some people are going to be pretty angry with me.
If I don't I'll have hardly any Ash to work with next year, and I use a lot of it especially for firewood.

[bulldawg_65]

Monkee,

In my opinion (and it ain't worth much) is do as you have done in the past. It isn't going to change things one iota. The trees you plan on coppicing could easily get the disease as any new growth can, so use it while you have it. Just my take on the whole sorry situation.

[ToneWood]

I'm inclined to agree with bulldawg. Is new growth known to be more susceptible to fungal disease than old growth? I would guess the other way round - but I could be completely wrong.

[monkeeboy]

Yes, new growth is more susceptible to the fungus.
Therefore it does not make sense to carry on regardless.

Also, if I leave the trees and, in years to come, they turn out to be disease resistant, then they may be an important seed source.
If I coppice them then they'll take many more years to produce seed.

[bulldawg_65]

In that case, keep them or maybe even trim them.

[ToneWood]

Chalara fraxinea – advice for woodland owners @ http://www.sylva.org.uk/treewatch/blog.php?post=3789

Video on bio-security for public: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-8zjmq4
Leaflet on same (.pdf): http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FCMS028- ... idance.pdf
Video ash die-back life-cycle, appearance & symptoms: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-8zjmq4