Ash dieback - causes, effects and associated issues
A special lecture for Friends of the Botanic Garden by Rob Spence, Field Manager, Forestry Commission
European ash tree wood is strong and elastic and particularly good at withstanding sudden shocks. It plays an essential role in our sporting heritage, being used for cricket stumps, tennis racquets, hockey sticks and billiard cues. It is also employed in making furniture, tool handles, walking sticks and in the manufacture of the frames of Morgan sports cars.
This lecture will highlight the problems of Ash Dieback.
Rob has worked for the Forestry Commission for 36 years, during which he has witnessed the effect of many tree diseases and insects. Plant health and forest protection are the primary concerns of his team and he deals principally with the private sector, including Councils, large estates and small woodlands, over an area covering Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Dorset and part of Somerset.
His talk will cover many of the issues relating to Ash Dieback: where it has come from; what it does and its effects, short and long term; spread; timescales; what to do if you think you find a tree with it. Rob will also consider some of the other diseases and insects now affecting our trees (e.g., acute oak decline, oak processionary moth and Phytophthora ramorum).
Admission
Free to Friends (on production of membership card). Visitors will be asked for a £5 donation. No booking required.
Further information
0117 331 4906