The challenge posed by ash dieback was brought home to me in a very real sense when the issue of trimming hedges came up for resolution prior to last Christmas (2023).
What concerned me most, was a row of ash trees that had not been touched for well over a decade.
I wondered if they had become infected with ash dieback, and, if so, what was the extent of the problem?
Above all else, I wanted to make sure that I was not contravening any conservation-related regulations, if the decision was taken to start cutting down trees.
So, the decision was taken to engage the services of a professional forester. I didn’t have long to wait for some insights regarding the scale of my ash dieback problem.
Within minutes of his arrival, the forester confirmed to me that 75% of the trees were infected with the disease.
His recommendation was quite simple – start cutting.
Dangers of ash dieback
He justified this approach on the back of two realities. Firstly, the trees will die over the period of time.
Secondly, boughs will start to fall off the trees as this process develops. What’s more, diseased trees are more likely to fall over during storms.
Trees falling and heavy parts falling off trees add up to one issue – an insurance nightmare.
In my case, none of the infected trees were adjacent to roads. But, there are millions of ash trees currently in hedges that mark out every rural road in the country.
In addition to this, the vast majority of these trees are growing on farmers’ land.
Given this reality, the potential for entire trees or boughs thereof to fall on passing traffic and people is immense.
In the event of an accident happening, the landowner will be the focus of all enquiries when it comes to sorting out the compensation claims that will follow.
Prevention is always better than cure. On that basis, I would strongly urge all farmers with mature ash trees growing on their properties to have them professionally assessed.
This includes stands of ash that are remote from public roads. These trees could fall on family members or farm workers as they walk or drive by.
Again, this is an accident-related scenario that nobody would wish to see happening.
For the record, evidence of disease within the trees identified on my own property was clearly visible, post-felling.
It’s also worth pointing out that many of these same trees seemed to be in full leaf throughout the previous growing season.