Dieback recovery

[Mr. Squirrel]

I’ve worked with a fair number of Ash that have recovered pretty well. Particularly older trees where  there’s ADB, but not too awful. Early stages management of dead wood seems a very reasonable approach. 
I’m not saying it’s insignificant, but there are definitely those who are a little trigger happy as soon as Ash are looking a bit peeky. 

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

54 minutes ago, Mr. Squirrel said:

I’ve worked with a fair number of Ash that have recovered pretty well. Particularly older trees where  there’s ADB, but not too awful. Early stages management of dead wood seems a very reasonable approach. 
I’m not saying it’s insignificant, but there are definitely those who are a little trigger happy as soon as Ash are looking a bit peeky. 

I quite agree with your observations, including some that appear unaffected (usually a little secluded from the general Ash populous - one I recall as having to remind myself it's an Ash and that's what 'healthy Ash trees look like', albeit mid-aged - the tree, I have a few more rings!)

Re - "trigger happy'ness", perhaps if the tree is inaccessible by machine / MEWP, and hence climbing is the only option, and ADB is prevalent and significant in the area, AND you have a risk averse client ('most', and neighbours usually 'more so') I can kinda understand it.

Cheers..

Paul  

[Stubby]

I see plenty . Most in varying stages and some in the same row of trees showing no signs at all .  

[peds]

But the question is Stubby, have any appeared worse in the past but are showing signs of recovery this year? Or next...

 

Regarding "trigger happy", if they are near targets I can absolutely agree with snipping first and asking questions later, and I've removed my fair share myself, but of course those ones aren't really going to show many signs of recovery in old wood.

Plus, I wonder about the strength of the timber in "recovering" trees, if in fact they are, especially down in the roots. We've all seen keeled-over ash due to weakened root systems, I'm sure. So if an ash shows signs of recovery, is it still structurally compromised? 

[Stubby]

34 minutes ago, peds said:

But the question is Stubby, have any appeared worse in the past but are showing signs of recovery this year? Or next...

 

Regarding "trigger happy", if they are near targets I can absolutely agree with snipping first and asking questions later, and I've removed my fair share myself, but of course those ones aren't really going to show many signs of recovery in old wood.

Plus, I wonder about the strength of the timber in "recovering" trees, if in fact they are, especially down in the roots. We've all seen keeled-over ash due to weakened root systems, I'm sure. So if an ash shows signs of recovery, is it still structurally compromised? 

Yes . I have seen some that look better that they did 3 summers a go . It seems very random . 

[Welshfred]

Interesting. I've not seen any improve but would like to believe it's possible.

This year I've actually noticed something of a second wave, mostly in 20-30 yr old trees that looked fine until this year. Mature trees that have looked ok still look ok. Those that have been declining over the last few years look really bad this year and I've seen a few go over with a rotten base (below ground). There's one mature tree here that looks like it might be fighting it off, a slight halo and quite a bit of epicormics but stable as such over a number of years now.

 

[Stubby]

12 minutes ago, Welshfred said:

Interesting. I've not seen any improve but would like to believe it's possible.

This year I've actually noticed something of a second wave, mostly in 20-30 yr old trees that looked fine until this year. Mature trees that have looked ok still look ok. Those that have been declining over the last few years look really bad this year and I've seen a few go over with a rotten base (below ground). There's one mature tree here that looks like it might be fighting it off, a slight halo and quite a bit of epicormics but stable as such over a number of years now.

 

The ones that appear resistant need the keys harvesting to try and build up a resistant strain . 

[peds]

Absolutely, best to try and harvest from as many different specimens as possible though, we don't want another genetic bottleneck bringing the same problem a few years down the line!

[5thelement]

15 minutes ago, peds said:

Absolutely, best to try and harvest from as many different specimens as possible though, we don't want another genetic bottleneck bringing the same problem a few years down the line!

Forestry England have been doing this for years now. 

[Stubby]

23 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

Forestry England have been doing this for years now. 

'Kin hope so !🙂