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We need to talk about Ash Dieback

  • 24-07-2022 10:46am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,401 ✭✭✭✭


    Ash dieback is killing almost all of our ash trees. Have you heard of it? Have you noticed it? When you do start to identify it, it's actually very sad to see.

    Ash is the most abundant tree in Irish hedgerows. It's significant for farmers but hugely important for biodiversity and providing habitats for wildlife. The tree is widely distributed across the island and is a woodland species. As one of our very few native trees, there are almost one thousand associated species that use it in some way or other. Insects and mammals use ash as a food source; some birds use it as a place to hunt, nest and breed and many bryophytes and lichens use the ash as a habitat in which to live.

    The disease has been in the country for the past decade, but its impact only really became noticeable last summer through the distressed looking leafless extremities of ash trees poking up from hedgerows across the country. Most did not come into full leaf on all their branches and the tips of the trees were instead leafless and skeletal, offering evidence of their gradual zombification.

    I have read mortality rates of over 90%. Just when we need more and more trees, we will be losing many millions of ash trees over the next few years.

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,678 ✭✭✭Multipass


    Its too late for the ash, but we could really do with implementing Australian style biosecurity measures.



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,853 Mod ✭✭✭✭riffmongous


    What can actually be done about it though?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,716 ✭✭✭✭Jim_Hodge


    You expect that post to be taken seriously with a username like that. Beasty. didn't last long.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,401 ✭✭✭✭Cluedo Monopoly


    Nothing for the ash but we could plant other native species to replace them. The countryside will be littered with millions of dead ash trees in a few years. The amount of dieback this summer is quite stark. Most are showing signs of it.

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    It is indeed very sad. The area outside where I work is lined with Ash, and random trees were stricken and felled. Only a matter of time until they all need to be felled.

    There was mention of a more resistant Asian Ash species that has had to deal with the disease for longer. But, native ash is goosed.

    On a side note one long term hurl maker has gone out of business. They were importing Ash from Poland and you couldn’t tell until you made the hurl if it was weak and infected, or not. They gave up.



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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,888 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    is any government agency trying to identify resistant ash trees for seed collection? i was out for a cycle earlier and stopped under two trees, at a guess 15m+ tall, and certainly on one of them was not able to see any signs of dieback.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,401 ✭✭✭✭Cluedo Monopoly


    Ash dieback - Teagasc | Agriculture and Food Development Authority

    Teagasc is carrying out research to establish a gene bank composed of genotypes of ash tolerant to ash dieback with the aim to produce planting stock for forests and hedgerows in Ireland. 

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,716 ✭✭✭✭Jim_Hodge


    What man? No idea how Fine Gael are, as they're not my cup of tea. But keep going and enjoy while you can.

    Ash dieback is rampant around here. There have been many mature trees felled over the past year with signs that more are in trouble. That said several locals have said they'd rather the Ash was removed and replaced with different native species anyway, as they're almost a weed tree here.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,716 ✭✭✭✭Jim_Hodge




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,095 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    I have 4 mature and a few seedling ash trees in my garden. One, a mature but weak (multistem) tree has die back. One of the very young trees has died. There are still three mature trees - one of which is huge - absolutely fine as far as I can see.

    I read that there wasn't any point doing anything about affected trees, but the one mentioned is very close to two healthy trees, should I take it out?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,716 ✭✭✭✭Jim_Hodge


    The dieback spreads from fallen leaves predominantly. Keep gathering any leaves and burn them. Watch for limbs without leaves, as individual limbs are affected before the main trunk. It's hard to keep it from spreading. A neighbour had a tree surgeon check his and while two were visibility infected two others had it when the tree surgeon checked. Three others were fine.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,888 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    Thing is, I don't think you'd be able to protect the good ones from dieback, so any such action would be delaying the inevitable I reckon.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 506 ✭✭✭asdfg87


    I have been told that ash can be grafted sucessfully but that the enviornmentalists dont like it, i assume on the basis of this is the disease must be in the root.

    Hopefully someone here will know a bit more...



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,716 ✭✭✭✭Jim_Hodge


    The fungus begins on the leaf and works it's way in to the shoot and then trunk. But will affect young tress if present in the soil.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,392 ✭✭✭✭Furze99


    We have a mixture of older ash - maybe 25 years and younger - maybe 15 years. About 1/3rd of older trees affected and 2/3rd of younger. Two or three much older ones in boundary ditch and look ok so far.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,401 ✭✭✭✭Cluedo Monopoly


    I believe the older trees take longer to start showing signs.

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,273 ✭✭✭xxxxxxl


    anyone Remember Dutch elm disease.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 506 ✭✭✭asdfg87


    I have recently got a license for about 1k native Irish trees which will happen when plants available (likely Jan/Feb) There is a lovely ash in the middle of site i would like to keep. However the inspector said a few months ago he thought it was dead but its fully laden with leaves now. How can i confirm if the tree dying, i do not want to remove but its removal later likely do more damage.

    Is there any absolute way of knowing.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,996 ✭✭✭✭Danzy


    I thought the same but the speed of deterioration in the last few months is nothing short of incredible.


    I thought locally we had many years to go. Now I think a few short years will see a massive change.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,996 ✭✭✭✭Danzy




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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,716 ✭✭✭✭Jim_Hodge




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 506 ✭✭✭asdfg87


    I expect i already have my answer then as the inspector that examined and passed for license said he thought it looked dead, that was on A\pril 11th but it looks alive now..


    I will ask my planner but it looks like its firewood...pity...



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,888 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    interesting, i thought last year showed a greater year on year deterioration than this year.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,095 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    Ash trees come in to leaf normally in May, I wonder on what basis the inspector thought it was dead in early April, given it is now full of leaf. Are there any dead branches? Especially at the top? Can we have a pic please?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,587 ✭✭✭Micky 32


    It’s fairly rampant down in Leitrim. I see a lot of leafless branches sticking up on the trees. Nearly all the ash trees on a friends land look like they are all dying young and old. Half the branches have no leaves. I’m guessing that is dieback? It’s only in the last couple of years i have noticed it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,273 ✭✭✭xxxxxxl


    Anyone notice in urban areas not sure about others. They have started putting metal disks on trees for some reason ? Is it a carbon count or something like that. Noticed about 2 months ago on every tree after I spotted one for the first time.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭dePeatrick


    About 80% of my ash has dieback. Ah well…lots of firewood I guess.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 506 ✭✭✭asdfg87


    I assume he knows his stuff but want confirmation, i may get a pic in a day or two but what i am really looking for is if someone can do a test to say positively as i will remove if confirmed.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,401 ✭✭✭✭Cluedo Monopoly


    I believe Leitrim was ground zero for ash dieback in Ireland. It was imported into a plantation of ash there.

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,061 ✭✭✭Neddyusa


    It's really terrible, we're going to lose millions of trees within a few years due to incompetence in government agencies.

    This is surely the single biggest ecological loss Ireland has seen in our lifetimes.

    Those responsible will suffer no consequences.

    Meanwhile a lowly farmer remiving a few metres of a hedge would have the book thrown at him.

    Tis a funny old country.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,401 ✭✭✭✭Cluedo Monopoly


    It will be interesting to see how many ash trees actually bud this year. I have a horrible feeling that the countryside will be littered with dead hulks. Many ash trees looked very sick last summer.

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,251 ✭✭✭MegamanBoo


    I thought I saw plenty signs of this last year especially when I travelled towards the midlands.

    Very sad but I think there are some positive signs towards identifying genetically resistant strains.

    https://www.confor.org.uk/news/latest-news/a-new-breakthrough-on-ash-dieback/



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 444 ✭✭Mullinabreena


    I've a Ash tree in my back garden it was showing signs of dieback. For two seasons I gathered the leafs and last year I didn't notice any dieback. There's an Ash forestry beside me but it's all dead sadly.



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,768 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    From a historican perspective, the loss of Ash groves would be serious setback for cultural geography. Local place names in Ireland have numerous associated with Ash trees dating from the earliest recorded records (approx 6th AD) and as an example of their prevelance one can see this in the national place names database:https://www.logainm.ie/en/s?txt=ash&str=on .



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,075 ✭✭✭✭gormdubhgorm


    And what about the hurls???

    Guff about stuff, and stuff about guff.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,401 ✭✭✭✭Cluedo Monopoly


    They are making bamboo hurls now. I think we were importing most of the ash for hurls anyway.

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



  • Posts: 2,725 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    It's a bit of a tragedy. Was down home at the weekend and every Ash tree on the land and along the roads close by are already dying.

    My Dad said he hasn't seen a hedgehog, badger, or red squirrel for years.

    No one bothers with tillage as they couldn't make it work. Land that was worked for crops and sheep 50 years ago is now being set aside for fast-growing non-native trees.

    I can't remember when I last saw a pig in a field. And if you had one then you couldn't get a local butcher to prepare it for you.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,924 ✭✭✭Large bottle small glass


    I have 6 acres, of what was really excellent quality ash, which is more or less bollixed.

    When it gets into a wood it is typically widespread within a year or so; from then its only firewood and not for long.

    The Department/Forest Service have been appalling in their handling AND continued non existant bio security. You can still bring in boats loads of plants, firewood from anywhere you like with close to no restrictions from what I can see.

    There are two major issues

    1. Ash was the only native tree planted in large numbers in private forests. With so many farmers burned, don't expect us to get anywhere near our planting requirement. With current rental prices for even marginal land close to dairy land you would want to be nuts to plant. If you were to the only viable commercial crop is more spruce.
    2. This is a gigantic future road safety issue, which hasn't manifested itself yet. I have 1700m of road frontage and in that about 60 ash trees. They will all have to be taken down. The Local Authorities I'm aware of are putting all the onus on the landowners, EVEN where they are growing on the road side of the ditch/fence. On regional road close to me I can't keep count of the number of problem ash trees even over a short distance.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Very little being discussed in the media about this, I'd say the countryside will be a mess this year in some areas. Maybe most have not noticed yet.


    Very very good point above too, its going to be a huge road safety problem over the next few years.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,401 ✭✭✭✭Cluedo Monopoly


    Yeah the next big storm will bring down a lot of ash branches on roads.

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,924 ✭✭✭Large bottle small glass


    It's not just that.

    Even if healthy ash can be tricky to fell from ditches, with dieback its a complete guessing game as structurally the main trunk of tree can be comprised and hence very unpredictable.

    When disease is advanced its not really work for a chainsaw, especially if on a roadside ditch where the desirable felling direction maybe unattainable safely.

    If council were proactive, engaging with farmer and felling them all by machine into fields is probably the best answer and let the farmers tidy up the mess.

    Instead we will have some Healy Rae or county manager calling for money after the first fatality/near miss



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,772 ✭✭✭✭fits


    We have a few around the garden. One snapped in a storm a couple of years ago narrowly missing the house.


    Just took down three on the roadside this morning. We will leave the ones away from the road for now.


    it’s dangerous to fell them as they snap.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,095 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    I had 5 ash trees in my garden, one in the hedgerow and the rest in the garden. One was a scruffy multistemmed tree and another was very young, both had die back and have been removed. The one in the hedgerow is a granddaddy and, with the other two, is absolutely fine. Hope they stay that way!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,664 ✭✭✭crusd


    I have noticed a lot of activity this winter in felling trees adjacent to roads in both Mayo and Galway. Noticeably higher than anything I saw in previous years.

    The ship sailed on Bio-security measures 10 years ago. Even "culling" infected woods and plantations will actually only prevent the emergence of resistant trees. From what I understand the best course of action now is to identify the resistant trees and start breeding new resistant cultivars. Unfortunately is going to take decades.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,832 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    Spare a thought for Tim Wheeler. It was all he had



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,718 ✭✭✭pgj2015


    Has anyone any faith in the Co Councils to cut down the big ash trees with dieback that will eventually fall on people and kill them?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 728 ✭✭✭20Wheel


    I was expecting some wild new outspoken twitter celebity involved in entertainment and neo-crap politics.

    Outrage as Ash Dieback slams gender bill in new sexist rap video. - The Sun.

    Ash Diebacks homey J Knotweed in gun mugging.

    Putin is a dictator. Putin should face justice at the Hague. All good Russians should work to depose Putin. Russias war in Ukraine is illegal and morally wrong.



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