Ash Imports Banned

[Mr Kipling]

Ash imports banned from Monday. Could be as serious as Dutch Elm Disease.

[hifi_dave]

It's a bit of a worry when you see how many Ash trees there are in the UK.

[Mr Kipling]

Seeing the potential threat, the Irish banned imports back in February. We've just been dithering, hoping for the best, or so it seems.

[hifi_dave]

Local news on the TV last night showed a forest in Suffolk (IIRC) where 30% of the Ash are already infected.

[Barry]

What is it with the UK? We seem to be quite happy chopping down or up-rooting trees, but I see no sign of any replanting.

Round my way most people have removed the trees in their front gardens and paved over what's left for a hard-standing for the obligatory second or third car. :doh:

I seem to remember about 12 years ago there was to be a national, goverment sponsored project to plant 1,000,000 new trees in the UK. What ever came of it?

Yours, a sad and depressed dendrophile.

[The Grand Wazoo]

The govt. were warned about this disease in 2008. They've known about it and have been repeatedly told of its potential to decimate the country's Ash population since then & have done nothing.
When it was found in the Spring, they ignored it. Now they've decided to do something. But why not yesterday - what is to be gained by leaving it till Monday?

I'm going to be having ~100,000 trees planted during the next few months - about 25-30% were going to be Ash.