A lady in Roehampton rang us last month about the ash at the bottom of her garden. Thin crown, a few dead twigs at the tips, and a big limb that had dropped onto next door’s shed roof overnight with no wind to speak of. Sound familiar? It’s ash dieback, and it’s the reason a lot of tree surgeons in South West London have had a busier back end to the year than usual.
The numbers aren’t pretty. The CLA’s latest briefing reckons around 95% of the UK’s ash will decline and die over the next ten to fifteen years, with perhaps 5% showing natural tolerance. Putney, Barnes and Wandsworth have plenty of ash in back gardens, along the railway embankments and out on the Heath, so we’ll be seeing this for a good while yet.
Here’s the bit people don’t expect. Diseased ash goes brittle fast. A healthy oak gives you warning, creaks, bends and sheds a bit of deadwood; dieback ash can just shatter, and that’s why we won’t put a climber into one that’s badly gone. Crane or MEWP and a sectional dismantle, with arisings fed straight into the chipper, is the safer way. Don’t go up there yourself with a pruning saw and a ladder. We’ve seen the results.
Check the paperwork before anyone cuts. Most of SW15 and SW13 sits in conservation areas, so you’ll normally owe the council six weeks’ written notice for work to a tree over 75mm trunk diameter, and a TPO needs a formal application. Truly dead or dangerous trees are exempt, but you still give five working days’ notice, and you keep photos. Honey fungus at the base is another reason to get a proper look sooner rather than later.
If you’ve got an ash that looks sparse this autumn, ring Putney Tree Surgeons on 0800 121 7880 or have a look at putneytreesurgeons.co.uk/. We’ll tell you straight whether it needs a crown reduction, a deadwooding or coming down altogether, and we’ll sort the notice to the council too.
