Ash in East Anglia

[JonnyRFT]

I’ve just noticed a lot of Ash not producing seed this year. Never thought about until now. Is this the case elsewhere in the country? I think every Ash I’ve inspected recently around East Anglia hasn’t produced anything yet. Could it be due to the general struggle it’s had this season or do they not always pollinate every year? 

 

The Ash in my garden literally only managed a handful of seed this year. (Please see photos)

I don’t want to immediately jump to conclusions with regards to Chalara either as I wouldn’t want to overlook other factors such as the drought we had last year etc.

 

[AHPP]

Are there any specific signs/indicators/giveaways for ash dieback or is it an elephant test (hard to describe but you know one when you see one)?

[Stere]

 

 

First signs I notice  is dead/bare tips of twigs in middle of crown like in the third pic above.

 

Doesn't look like much but then it progressively gets worse.......

[AHPP]

1 hour ago, Stere said:

 

 

First signs I notice  is dead/bare tips of twigs in middle of crown like in the third pic above.

 

Doesn't look like much but then it progressively gets worse.......

That's the thing that usually triggers my suspicion. Do you know of a test I can do in the field to confirm (say >95% certainty)?

[Dan Maynard]

I would say there was an unusually high amount of seed last year, so I guess it's having a rest this year. I'm in East Anglia but on the western edge.

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, AHPP said:

Are there any specific signs/indicators/giveaways for ash dieback or is it an elephant test (hard to describe but you know one when you see one)?

Look again next year . It will be obvious . I thought we ( West Sussex ) did not have much of a problem when other areas were .  The trees I thought were un affected 2 years ago are doomed .  The three big estates near me are felling anything that  could produce a potential claim . Road side and foot path ash are all coming down . I thought it was a knee jerk reaction at first but I now know its not .  It is very sad .

[devon TWiG]

51 minutes ago, Dan Maynard said:

I would say there was an unusually high amount of seed last year, so I guess it's having a rest this year. I'm in East Anglia but on the western edge.

They may well be heavy in seed as a survival strategy due to being under stress !

[The avantgardener]

I felled around 500 tons of Ash on a thinning job in East Sussex around two years ago, only one tree had seeds on in the entire block.
Natural England agreed to clear fell the Ash on the entire site this year due to the speed of the advanced decline, the worst I have seen anywhere else, very sad to see but nature doesn’t like a vacuum, it’s place will be filled by other genus for now, apart from the odd spectacular resilient tree that literally blows your mind, like the first time that I saw the Elm surrounding The Level in Brighton.

[AHPP]

4 minutes ago, EdwardC said:

Chalara pathogen biology - Forest Research

WWW.FORESTRESEARCH.GOV.UK

---

Project about the biology of chalara ash dieback pathogen at Forest...

 

Have you got a more credible source?

[Stubby]

20 hours ago, AHPP said:

Have you got a more credible source?

Seems credible to me .  Its everywhere ......