To Save Or Not To Save...

[wildewood]

Hi All, first posting, so be gentle... Fraxinus excelsior, parkland vintage pollard, 20 ft DBH. Trouble is, it's covered in black cankers, guess their saprophytic as its only showing on dead limbs and dead co-dom stems. Owner (mad aristocrate) wants to 'save' the tree, but has suggested that if it is to far gone, we should set it on fire to remove it..:scared1:

I reckon about 15 per cent is affected. Anyone got experience of effects on the living part of the tree of this fungus? Cheers!!

[Steve Bullman]

it is saphrophytic as you say, causes the wood to become very brittle

[Mac McLennan]

If there's room....stick a fence round it. remove any target area..... ie. benches, re-route paths etc.

 

Then stick a Bat box in the tree.....He'll love it.

[Paul Smith]

If there's room....stick a fence round it. remove any target area..... ie. benches, re-route paths etc.

 

Then stick a Bat box in the tree.....He'll love it.

 

great idea! use the tree to create a great biodiversity and practice your fracture/coro cuts as well.

[bob]

fence it or fell it

[David Humphries]

Trouble is, it's covered in black cankers, guess their saprophytic as its only showing on dead limbs and dead co-dom stems. !

 

great idea! use the tree to create a great biodiversity and practice your fracture/coro cuts as well.

 

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet,

Daldinia concentrica, King Afreds cakes, cramp balls etc.....

 

Someone mention fracture/coro cuts .............ooh ooh, I'm comin over all perculior.

 

Best to ask Master Blaster on the intracasies of these techniques

 

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=440

[Amelanchier]

D. concentrica is also thought to exist latently inside the tree, waiting til the conditions are right before fruiting... clever stuff, playing the waiting game!

 

I quite like the idea of burning it - there's a whole bunch of bugs that utilise burnt wood (which for obvious reasons is in short supply).

[David oakman]

spreads like the pox in an ash wood. if you were a forester with timber crops it would have to go, but in a park setting let it stay there are too few old ash due to its firewood qualitys,tidy it up and let it grow old with respect.

[Mr Ed]

Hi John, welcome to the forum. I have some more Oak here if you interested...

As for your ash tree, most Aristocrats round here are completely binkers. I suggest coronet cutting the top and leaving it as a micro ecosystem / habitat.

[christreeroot]

Put some nice deep plunge cuts in for the bats:001_tt1: