Excellent service on removal of 16 very tall conifers. Phil and his team went above and beyond to complete the job in one day leaving no mess at all. Absolutely recommend.
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What is Ash Dieback Disease?
Ash Dieback, also known as Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, is a type of tree disease which comes in the form of a fungus and is highly destructive towards ash trees. This includes the UK’s common ash, which means it has the potential to affect over 150million ash trees in the UK. It’s predicted that between 80-90% of ash trees in the UK could be lost.
Tree Squadron are seeing the impact this disease is having in Cardiff and South Wales daily, as we’re currently seeing this heavily affect the South Wales area. It will have a devastating impact on the landscape and the biodiversity of our woodlands, threatening many species which rely on ash. It presents a major threat to the UK’s treescape on a scale not seen since the Dutch elm disease epidemic of the 1970s.
The disease is airborne and the infected spores can travel tens of miles, either through the wind or helped along by movement from the public or animals. The spores then land on leaves, stick to them, penetrate into the leaf and spread around the rest of the ash tree. The fungus grows inside the tree, eventually blocking its water transport systems, causing it to die. The tree can fight back, but year-on-year infections will eventually kill it. Unfortunately, there is no known cure. There is currently a ban on the importing, and inland movement, of ash seeds and plants in order to reduce the spread from contaminated trees.
About Ash Dieback Disease
Ash dieback disease was first discovered in the UK in 2012 and is now widespread throughout the UK’s four nations. The fungus can kill young trees quickly, although older established trees can resist the disease longer. However, they are then vulnerable to other pests, attacking and killing them in their weakened state.
Ash is the third most common native tree in the UK, occurring in both woodlands and the wider landscape. The common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is one of our most important and prolific native tree species. The species accounts for 12% of broadleaved woodland in Great Britain and is commonly found in parks, gardens and hedgerows. Ash trees are well suited to the UK landscape, they are incredibly versatile trees growing in various soils and climatic conditions. When fully grown, they can reach a towering height of 35m and live up to an impressive 400 years.
Generally growing in groups, ash trees can often dominate an area as they self-seed and spread easily. They also make the ideal habitat for several different wildlife species that rely on the trees to thrive, including birds, dormice, insects and wildflowers.
In history, the ash tree was seen as a sacred tree, believed to have medicinal properties. People often burned the wood to ward off evil spirits, and in Britain, druid wands were usually made of ash because of their straight grain.
How to Spot Ash Dieback
There are multiple signs of ash dieback that you should be looking out for with your ash trees. Younger trees tend to succumb to the disease quicker, but in general, trees of all ages can suffer from dieback. All affected trees will have these symptoms:
- Leaves initially develop dark patches in the summer, they then wilt and discolour to black.
- Leaves very often shed early.
- Dieback of the shoots and leaves is easily visible in the summer, seen as patches of the tree without leaf and dead branches present in the crown, and often a scattering of fallen branches and twigs on the ground.
- Lesions develop where branches meet the trunk. These are often dark brown and diamond-shaped.
- Epicormic growth is a common response to stress in trees. This is seen as new growth from previously dormant buds shooting out from branches and the main stem, easily visible especially during the winter when not in leaf.
If you are concerned about your tree or a neighbouring tree then contact Tree Squadron for further advice.
Some information has been gained from The Woodland Trust.
How to Treat Ash Dieback
Unfortunately, the only solution to dealing with the ash dieback disease is to stop infected trees from spreading the disease to other ash trees, which means cutting them down.
Leaving a tree infected with ash dieback can be hazardous because the disease will eventually kill the tree, meaning it will lose its structure and fall apart. It would render any garden unsafe and be a hazard for nearby buildings. Personal and public safety must be the priority, it is recommended that action is taken once ash dieback is identified.
Tree pruning or tree removal via felling is recommended if the tree or its branches threaten to cause injury or damage. In particular, you should watch out for basal lesions, which are lesions or cankers forming near the bottom of the trunk that can weaken the trunk and make the tree more prone to falling.
If left too late, tree surgeons won’t be able to safely climb the tree in order to dismantle and a mobile elevated work platform (cherry picker) will need to be used to enable a safe removal.
So if your tree is suffering from ash dieback in Cardiff or South Wales, call Tree Squadron today on 02920 214 432 to book an appointment.
What our clients have to say
Tree Squadron took down four diseased ash trees in our Cyncoed garden. They did it on the days and in the time they said they would, left neat stumps, removed nearly all the sawdust, stacked the resulting logs and even fixed the garage door in the process. Their price was far below two other quotes, I’m very happy to recommend them.
Stephen
We have used Phil and his team many times now at our commercial premises. Some of the jobs have been quite large and difficult and others not so. All of them have been approached in the same highly professional manner. Phil himself is very personable and actually does what he says he’ll do. He is extremely reliable and his lads work very hard, in a very respectful way. He offers very good value for his excellent work and I have no hesitation in recommending Tree Squadron to everyone. He is our number one to go to for any of this type of work. Keep up the brilliant work Phil!