Ash die back

[The avantgardener]

9 hours ago, mitchel said:

feel like everyones desperate for it to be the next dutch elm disease

I don’t know anyone who is desperate for this to be like DED, everyone I know would rather we didn’t have ADB at all.

Two years ago I was involved on an Ash thinning job on the Glynde Estate near Lewes, East Sussex. It was by far the worst infection that I have seen anywhere in the country, with huge standing dead seed trees.

This is within the South Downs National Park. On completion, Natural England decided that it was so bad/dangerous that they issued a notice to clear fell it all, which was finished this year, It really is an environmental disaster that will be felt for decades to come, all very sad.

[Gary Prentice]

22 minutes ago, The avantgardener said:

I don’t know anyone who is desperate for this to be like DED

On the plus side, it does mean that there's going to be an awful amount of job security around for a few years. Said (almost) entirely tongue in cheek.

 

Being pragmatic, just accept it as evolution. tolerant trees will reproduce and in a century or two they'll be back. In the meantime, other pests and diseases will come along, affect particular genus's (?), species or families and the cycle will continue. Maybe we all need this as a kick in the pants to remind us to diversify, broaden the palette of what we plant. Heresy I know, but forget 'we should plant natives, plant what grows FFS and as many different species as we possibly can. 

 

Tell the landscape architects that we don't just want rosaceous species on new residential sites, no avenues of cloned trees. Tell the FC to revisit their grant scheme specifications. The world is changing oh so rapidly, so must we.

[The avantgardener]

6 minutes ago, Gary Prentice said:

On the plus side, it does mean that there's going to be an awful amount of job security around for a few years. Said (almost) entirely tongue in cheek.

 

Being pragmatic, just accept it as evolution. tolerant trees will reproduce and in a century or two they'll be back. In the meantime, other pests and diseases will come along, affect particular genus's (?), species or families and the cycle will continue. Maybe we all need this as a kick in the pants to remind us to diversify, broaden the palette of what we plant. Heresy I know, but forget 'we should plant natives, plant what grows FFS and as many different species as we possibly can. 

 

Tell the landscape architects that we don't just want rosaceous species on new residential sites, no avenues of cloned trees. Tell the FC to revisit their grant scheme specifications. The world is changing oh so rapidly, so must we.

I work at Bedgebury Pinetum quite a lot, an FC site that just happens have the largest collection of conifers anywhere in the world.

I have been planting in experimental plots there for a decade now looking into new possible crops species, so this work is ongoing.

The problem is that Sitka/Corsican etc gives the largest yields over the short period for the large harvesting companies, they largely have no interest in biodiversity or ecology, just profit margins, I think that is the biggest problem moving forward.

[Gary Prentice]

1 minute ago, The avantgardener said:

The problem is that Sitka/Corsican etc gives the largest yields over the short period for the large harvesting companies

Not much profit when something wipes almost the entire species out, is there?

 

Sorry, I know I'm preaching to the choir.

 

I suppose that in the future our kids can visit Bedgebury to wonder at the range of conifer species there, it's unlikely that they'll be much elsewhere if Nurseries, timber growers and the like continue as they are.

[ESS]

Certainly in some areas of the country there has been encouragement to plant a proportion of natives on clear fell  conifer sites. There has also been encouragement in some parts to remove conifer from native stands ,traditionally it was a planting method used to encourage growth for a better final crop.

However, we have a need for timber , and growers want a return, Sitka, Corsican , Douglas etc is planted because that's what the market wants. In fairness to the FC they have done a lot of trial planting back down the years to see what suits ground conditions , climate etc. Over the past 45years that I have been in the industry I have seen a lot of changes, the move away from bandsaws to automated mills being one of the big ones,whereas it used to be a case of bigger the better for bandsaw mills that is no longer the case. 

Traditionally the private estates planted for the next generation, I know of quite a few very large forests that are being clear fell harvested that were planted within my time in the industry, so 45 years.

I worked through the DED in the mid 70s, certainly there was more activity around getting things done. There were a lot of controls on timber movements outside of the dormant period,and it was policed. However , they were trying to control the spread of a beetle, very different to the situation with Ash, as we all know. We only need to look at the spread of disease in Larch to realise how futile any attempt at control would be. 

[Gary Prentice]

1 hour ago, EdwardC said:

The landscape architects are really good, but they have experience of working with arbs,

Lucky you Edward, the last Landscape Architect I met just wanted to deny that I was anything but a tree -feller. 

When I pointed out that raising the soil level 4 m around a ailing/decaying late mature Horse chestnut wouldn't do it any good and it would be better simply remove it before it killed someone, (or crushed the owners Range Rover, he's attitude was 'well, it would be an easy tree for you to fell'.

 

I kinda had a idea something was amiss when I got the blank look on asking where the trees RPA was marked on his plans...