News

Ash Dieback

With permission from the Tree Council, WPC have produced this brief guide to this  widespread disease.  Free hard copies are available from the community library and pdf downloads from this site Ash dieback the facts  and other sites.

At a recent update seminar attended by over 100 Tree Officers, it is now clear that

  • Resistance to the disease is nearer but not yet – NO trees on the market are resistant
  • The disease can oscillate with trees severely affected one year and not the next.  So only after a three year monitoring should bad trees be felled
  • The problem is far worse in forest environments than urban or landscape settings
  • Pruning or pollarding are options
  • Inspect annually June-Sept with a  simple ‘ok/affected/bad’ assessment’
  • Most ash trees can recover from one year of obvious crown dieback symptoms
  • Trees in hedgerows are a particular UK problem.