Saturday, 10 November 2012

Waiting for news

I've sent this photo, with a few others, to The Forestry Commission and I think I already know what their reply will be, as there are a number of sites locally where many young Ash trees have had to be destroyed.

Now the guidelines have changed and only those trees  which show signs of the Ash dieback disease will have to be destroyed.   At the moment only few of the 420+ Ash trees that we have planted display obvious signs of having the disease.
 
The latest guidance says that mature trees can be left, even if they are struck down by the fungus. Experts are hoping that  there will be some native trees left that are immune to this fungus.

There are a number of old, coppiced Ash trees in our ancient hedgerow, so it's great that they don't have to be cut down.

Saturday, 3 November 2012

Ash Dieback

Farming Today on BBC Radio 4  this morning was all about this disease. A number of experts were interviewed followed  by a general discussion about whether should be done to keep our native trees free from imported diseases.