Ash canker? What to do?

[Barnyard]

Hope some of you knowledgeable people can assist me on this one? I have a small woodland 4 1/2 acres of predominately Ash and i have notice a few of the trees suffering from canker. One in particular was quite bad (pic 1)and lost a couple of limbs over the winter. Whilst chopping the cankered tree yesterday i noticed this split on the bark of it's neighbour (pic 4-5) Is this canker? What is the best option? Is it possible to help it or better to take it down?

Any and all advise greatly appreciated.

Cheers. Barnyard

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

The old pseudomonas syringae, or bacterial ash canker.

 

ecologicaly its a nice feature in the wild wood, my own wood Whippendell has many such Ash and also Ashridge. I have found bats in the hollowed out stems where secondary fungal decay has got into the exposed heartwood/ripewood.

 

The advice in Hienz Butins "tree diseases and disorders is to remove the effected trees to control the disorder, but it really depends on your production/managment scheme.

 

is this plantation for wood production or ecology, or both?

[Barnyard]

Thank you for the reply

The woodland is actually for both. I try to maintain it as best i can and try to introduce as much wildlife as possible. I also use it to produce firewood, normally this would be naturally fallen trees or ones that are on their last legs and about to fall as it were...

Taking it down would open a large area for new growth and supply quite a bit of firewood, but... well i don't know!!

 

I suppose if it were going to help stop the spread of the canker it might be the correct thing to do....

 

Cheers.

Barnyard

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

The quality and quantity of deadwood and veteren trees MUST be allowed to build if you want habitats to form.

 

Try taking the clean straight wood for the fire, and leaving the "rotten and the sick" for the wildlife, trust me.

[arbwork]

Best usage I have ever seen for cankered ash was the woodfair at Bentley wildfowl the other year where a v. skilled wood turner had crafted bowls vases and other vessels, not saying you would get much selling canker, but much better result than fire wood ! I will try to find a link to the turner. it is good habitat if you can leave it though

[Fungus]

The old pseudomonas syringae, or bacterial ash canker.

 

Tony,

There is also a chance, this a type of ash canker caused by Nectria galligena, see : http://bio.kuleuven.be/sys/iawa/PDF/IAWA%20J%2021-25/25%20(2)%202004/25(2)%20165-174.pdf.

And has the death of Fraxinus caused by the anamorf Chalara fraxinea of Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus already reached your country ? Coming from Germany, since 2010 it has invaded the northeastern parts of The Netherlands with lots of young and some old ashes dying as a consequence. On Rügen (Germany), in 2009 it has killed hundreds of old ashes.

Edited May 7, 2011 by Fungus