Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2012/January 2013 | Page 70
COUNTRY LIFE
infected plants from European nurseries. However,
now that it has been found in older trees along the
east coast of England, with no apparent connection
to plants supplied by nurseries, the possibility of
it arriving by natural means are being investigated.
These ‘natural causes’ include being carried on
the wind or birds coming across the North Sea, or
on items such as footwear, clothing or vehicles of
people who had been in infected sites.
So, what is the future for our ash tree? The
Government has currently placed a blanket ban
Credit: Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is asking for your
help in reporting ash trees with the Chalara
dieback symptoms
on all movements of any type of ash tree. Where
the disease has been identified in young stock,
the owners are being asked to destroy the infected
plants to prevent the disease spreading.
The Forestry Commission is asking for your help
in reporting ash trees with the Chalara dieback
symptoms. Take care to first make sure that the
infected tree is really an ash (look for the black
buds) because they can look similar to the rowan
tree, which does not get the disease.
Check out the Forestry Commissions website
showing how to identify Chalara, www.forestry.
gov.uk/chalara. If you think you have spotted
the disease, please check the symptoms video and
pictorial guide to symptoms before reporting it.
Chalara helpline: 08459 335577 (open 8am - 6pm
every day) or [email protected]. You
should also follow the ‘biosecurity’ advice, to avoid
accidentally spreading the disease on your boots,
clothes, bicycle wheels etc.
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Credit: Forestry Co
mmission