Fighting Ash Dieback

Tree dying back from the branch tips.

With the trees being bare over winter, the problem of chalara, better known as ash die back, has slipped out of the new s recently, but it still threatens our beloved native ash trees. Ash is the third most common species of tree in the British Isles, and losing them would be even more devastating to our landscape than the Dutch Elm disease of the 1970s.

An infected young sapling 

You can help to prevent the spread of the disease by reporting infected trees to the authorities. Symptoms of infection include dieback of shoots and twigs at the periphery of the crowns. Dense clumps of foliage often appear further back on affected branches as the tree tries to compensate for the loss  of its leaves. Bark lesions can often be seen at the bases of infected branches.

Bark lesion

For more information on ash dieback, visit www.forestry.gov.uk/chalara. To find out how you can help stop the disease, tel: 01476 581111 or visit www.treedisease.co.uk. You can report the location of infected trees by visiting www.ashtag.org, or telephoning 08459 33 55 77.