This is the ash tree at the bottom of my garden. The BBC are running a story today about the demise of the ash tree as a British species. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35876621
By 2030, it is unlikely that there will be many ash trees left in Britain unless the disease "Ash Dieback" Hymenoscyphus fraxineus mutates into something more benign (which is possible). Trees like this one will be a thing off the past. What does this tree provide? This might give us a clue as to what we will lose. It was a pollard, so it once provided firewood, year after year. It has many holes and and hollowing branches and trunk. These cavities harbour two species of bats, jackdaws, green wood pecker and a colony of wild honey bees as well as innumerable other insect species including the increasingly rare stag beetle. Dead twigs fall from the ageing branches and provide me with a constant source of kindling for the fire.
Ash trees are very common, particularly on the limestone landscapes of Southern England (like the South Downs, Salisbury Plain and the Hampshire / Berkshire Downs), the limestone landscapes of the Pennines and the Mendip Hills, and every town, village, city park and suburban street in the country. Ash is also a species very common on railways, roadsides and in our gardens. This disease is going to hit every single one of us.
Ash trees are very common, particularly on the limestone landscapes of Southern England (like the South Downs, Salisbury Plain and the Hampshire / Berkshire Downs), the limestone landscapes of the Pennines and the Mendip Hills, and every town, village, city park and suburban street in the country. Ash is also a species very common on railways, roadsides and in our gardens. This disease is going to hit every single one of us.
