'Elimination' predicted for ash trees

I am at a loss to know why it was thought a good idea to import Ash seedlings from abroad (bringing with them Ash die back). If I had £1 for every Ash seedling I have pulled out round here I would be on my fully staffed yacht somewhere warm. I do like Ash trees but they are really just a very large weed ! (I like daisies and dandelions too but it doesn't mean I want them all over the garden).

Ash - the only native tree of the Olive Family. One of last to come into leaf, and the leaves usually fall when still green.

An important woodland tree, Ash forms pure stands on limestones and in upland areas. In northern England it is the main hedgerow tree.

To be honest, roses, I wouldn't. It is one of the only trees I can't readily identify - I'm pretty good on most others. We walk woodlands regularly both within the city and the Peak District. What bothers me more is the increasing number of chestnut trees affected by rust now. There was a hue and cry about chestnut rust similar to that of ash trees now; it seems we were set to lose our chestnut trees if it got a hold, but the concern seems to have died down now, though it is still obviously a problem. From what I've read some ash trees are immune to ash dieback and they are trying to isolate the gene that makes them so.

tiggy, I heard that the fungal spores probably blew over here from the European mainland.

ww, drastic climate changes have happened before, as have other environmentally destructive happenings. Life recovers, maybe not in exactly the same form as before but somehow or other. The rise of our own species was probably one of the long-term effects of what finished off the dinosaurs.

Plastic-eating bacteria have been discovered recently. Life is astonishing in its insistence on dealing with whatever Nature throws at it.

I think too many people (not talking about anyone in particular) have some kind of idea that Nature is static and should stay the same. It isn't and it won't.

Other trees will replace the ashes.

Besides which, they probably won't be entirely wiped out.

I have to confess too that I don't know what Ash trees actually look like. However, my desk is made of Ash and I'm very fond of it indeed! I see thatbagss point but I'm still sad to think of any trees being lost.

Next door's ash tree has just been chopped down because of dieback. Ours is on the border with the neighbour and they had it pollarded, it started to rot.
We have tried to keep it going but I think it's days are numbered
I shall have to think of a new name for my house.

We used to sing The Ash Grove at school.

I think it is sad that more species than ever are becoming extinct.

On a positive note, if anyone has a woodburning stove, ash is a very good wood for burning.
Every cloud etc

I don't hug trees but I do like touching them, stroking the bark.

You don't see many ash trees here (SW France) but I know of 2 near us, and they seem OK.
Dutch elm disease was here, but I've noticed lately many young elms springing up, so lets hope. Mostly we have oak. And lots of hazel.
But the chestnuts have been affected by rust for a few years now. They start off fine in spring, come into flower, then quickly turn brown .

All I can say is I'm jolly glad I changed my username in time

We have lived with a neighbours very old ash tree at the bottom of our drive, for years. As with others we continually remove the saplings from it, along with about 10 bags of leaves every Autumn. These two thing were no particular problem. However, since putting our house on the market, it became a major issue with prospective buyers.

Fortunately the people who are buying have had surveyors, both tree and house, assurances that it is not a problem. ( at the moment).

The owner of the tree is also very old and we did not want to cause any distress by making it an issue, ourselves.

I will never buy a house with an Ash tree anywhere near it!

All I can say is I'm jolly glad I changed my username in time now

I liked our ash tree; the canopy is not thick and heavy and the light and sun filtered through it. Next door's must have been the female one because it was covered in ash keys.

I find the altitude expressed in the OP very odd.

how high was it?

Often about 30m whitewave

Well, if the bees die out it could be mankind next (unless we have done it all by ourselves).

I do live at an altitude of about 30m above sea level. Spot on, ww!

The altitude of the garden rises about 10m from bottom to top. We call it the boggy brae and it is full of wild things: 258 wild plants and 70 fungi at the last count. Obviously, I hate Nature. Or could it be that I simply accept it in all its variety? Terrible attitude. Aye, right.

Seems I am wasting time and money buying and planting to encourage bees and butterflies, I must accept their extinction will just be part of the cycle of nature

What about sycamore? They seem fairly hardy. Is it a type of maple?
We have a row of them along the border of our garden, planted by the last owner of our house, who was english. They seem to thrive here, but I've never seen them anywhere else in the area.
Of deciduous trees, my favourite is lime, we have one very mature one.
I love trees, and where we are there are forests of them, many different species:
www.midi-pyrenees.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Paysages_du_Gers_-_Complet_cle1544c1.pdf

bags the word "invasive" is normally used for weeds or other foreign species that do rather well and crowd other plants out of native ecosystems. It is not usually used for foreign pests and pathogens that directly kill native species. Maybe you are sick of it being wrongly used?
Many people were incredulous that the Elm was disappearing. But disappear it did and changed our landscape for ever. Evolution takes a very long time and it is unlikely that ash-dependent species will be able to rapidly evolve an ability to live elsewhere. Many butterflies etc have declined and disappeared from the UK because their food plants have disappeared over 100 years or so of modern farming.

Just imagine the implication if grasses died off!

What can happen to one species can happen to say

Can happen to any.....

Seems I am wasting time and money buying and planting to encourage bees and butterflies, I must accept their extinction will just be part of the cycle of nature

No! We should all be doing that

I will Jalima, I will not accept that we can do nothing

That's what I have been doing * annie* Apparently they like open faces on flowers it gives them a good landing base