The state of things to come... Ash dieback disease.
A scene repeated across England and much of Europe as ash dieback disease (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) takes hold.
Millions of ash trees across the south of England are now diseased and increasingly dangerous as branches become brittle and give way with no warning.
Ash trees are being felled everywhere and country-lanes lined by sawn-off stumps are becoming a common sight.
I'm increasingly concerned about the the look of our much loved landscape of hedgerows and tree-lined lanes as ash are perhaps our most common tree, and the one most taken for granted.
Although rather unshowy, they make up as much as three quarters of the greenery that lines our lanes and fill our classic English vistas, and although there seems to be grants and incentives to plant new woodlands to offset greenhouse warming, I've not heard of any schemes to start replacing them with different species in our beloved hedgerows.
I remember visiting southern England in the late 70's when Dutch Elm disease had produced vistas that looked like mid-winter in mid-summer; huge dead skeletal trees in all directions. The wonderfully statuesque elm, so common in this area they were affectionally known as 'the Warwickshire Weed' gone from the landscape and rarely replaced.
This must be the time for the government to start incentives for farmers to plant new trees of different species within our hedges.
The state of things to come... Ash dieback disease.
A scene repeated across England and much of Europe as ash dieback disease (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) takes hold.
Millions of ash trees across the south of England are now diseased and increasingly dangerous as branches become brittle and give way with no warning.
Ash trees are being felled everywhere and country-lanes lined by sawn-off stumps are becoming a common sight.
I'm increasingly concerned about the the look of our much loved landscape of hedgerows and tree-lined lanes as ash are perhaps our most common tree, and the one most taken for granted.
Although rather unshowy, they make up as much as three quarters of the greenery that lines our lanes and fill our classic English vistas, and although there seems to be grants and incentives to plant new woodlands to offset greenhouse warming, I've not heard of any schemes to start replacing them with different species in our beloved hedgerows.
I remember visiting southern England in the late 70's when Dutch Elm disease had produced vistas that looked like mid-winter in mid-summer; huge dead skeletal trees in all directions. The wonderfully statuesque elm, so common in this area they were affectionally known as 'the Warwickshire Weed' gone from the landscape and rarely replaced.
This must be the time for the government to start incentives for farmers to plant new trees of different species within our hedges.