Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2012/January 2013 | Page 69

COUNTRY LIFE

metres, growing for over 150 years.
It prefers moist, well drained and
fertile soil, but also survives well
near smoke and pollution, so is a
good urban dweller. It can be grown
as a ‘coppice’, meaning the trunks
and branches can be regularly cut,
with new stems re-growing and is a
sort-after fuel for log fires and wood
burning stoves. The auld woodsman
saying; ‘dry or green, fit for a queen’,
refers to ash firewood!
Ash is not only admired by us
humans, but has high conservation
value as well. Some 41 species
of insects and over 250 species
of lichens are found on ash trees.
This has a positive knock-on effect
and supports many other types of
wildlife, including birds, mammals
and spiders.
Along with its importance for
firewood, the timber is also highly
regarded. It is one of the toughest,
being a natural shock absorber. The
wood can take a hard blow without
splintering, and so, is used where
strength and flexibility are needed.
Today you will find it as handles for
tools and sports goods; hammers,
axes, spades, hockey sticks and oars
to name a few. The attractive grain,
the strength and the ease which it can
be bent means that Ash is still used
widely for furniture. Traditional uses

We do ask that if you are visiting an
infected or suspected wood, please
take some simple precautions:
• do not remove any plant material
(firewood, sticks, leaves or cuttings)
from the woodland;
• where possible, before leaving the
woodland, clean soil, mud, leaves and
other plant material from footwear,
clothing, dogs, horses, the wheels
and tyres of bicycles, baby buggies,
carriages and other vehicles, and
remove any leaves which are sticking
to your car;
• before visiting other countryside sites,
parks, garden centres and nurseries,
thoroughly wash footwear, wheels and
tyres in soapy water;
• follow the instructions on any signs.
If you are unsure whether a wood is
infected, or suspected of being infected,
it is always good practice to follow the
advice above.
Credit: Forestry Commission

include skis, tent pegs and horse drawn
carts.
Trees suffering from Chalara dieback
have been found widely in Europe for
some years. Reported cases of large
numbers of ash dying in Poland in
1992 have now been attributed to
the Chalara pathogen. This currently
being the earliest identified, site of
infection.
The disease is indiscriminate of age

and habitat, as, Chalara has been found
in forest trees, urban areas such as
parks and gardens and young stock in
nurseries. It spread rapidly to other
European countries, but it wasn’t
until 2006 before the fungus was first
identified by scientists and another four
years before its reproductive properties
were acknowledged.
It was initially suspected that the
disease was brought to our shores via
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