Dieback of Ash

09 Nov 2012

Ash trees suffering with C. fraxinea infection have  been found widely across Europe since trees now believed to have been infected with this newly identified pathogen were reported dying in large numbers in Poland in 1992. These have included forest trees, trees in urban areas such as parks and gardens, and also young trees in nurseries.

In February 2012 it was found in a consignment of infected trees sent from a nursery in the Netherlands to a nursery in Buckinghamshire, England. Since then it has been found in a number of locations and situations in England and Scotland, including a car park in Leicester; a Forestry Commission Scotland woodland at Knockmountain, near Kilmacolm, west of Glasgow; a college campus in South Yorkshire; and a property in County Durham. All these sites had received stocks of young ash plants from nurseries within the past five years. Further cases have also confirmed in the nursery trade.

In October 2012, Fera scientists confirmed a small number of cases in East Anglia in ash trees which do not appear to have any association with recently supplied nursery stock. Further similar finds were confirmed in Kent, Essex and other counties in early November 2012.http://www.forestry.gov.uk/chalara