When we moved here just over 5 years ago there were two ash trees quite near the house. In heavy winds and storms there would always be a big branch that fell so we had them felled to save potential damage to the roof. We asked the tree surgeon to look at two others over by the pond and he said they were OK and just needed a few branches tidying up.
@vickiscurtis I inherited an enormous Ash tree when I moved to this property 3 years ago. The whole garden had been neglected for the past 20 years or so and the tree was in rather a bad state. Like you, it is in a Conservation Area and so not allowed to prune or cut down without permission from the Council. I couldn't see any sign of disease but as it also overhung a narrow road and I could see several dead branches, I was a bit concerned. The Council's Tree Officer was very helpful once he'd realised I wasn't interested in getting rid of the tree but just wanted to lift the canopy and tidy it up. He came out to look and put me in touch with a local Tree Surgeon. Between the 3 of us, we worked out what needed doing. My first job was to try and remove all the ivy which had completely covered the 3 trunks so that the Tree Surgeon could check for any sign of disease. Luckily, it was deemed free of disease and the renovation pruning carried out at a cost of some £600. It was suggested that I had the tree checked out again after 3 or 4 years. There are other Ash trees in the Church yard/Cemetary just a few metres away but they look pretty healthy so I just keep my fingers crossed. My only argument with this tree is when it scatters it's seeds everywhere and I am forever pulling seedlings out. Over the years of neglect, no one bothered to do this so I have quite a few of the "children" which sit and stick 2 leaves up at me As others have said above, if you can keep the tree it will be worth it.
We have dozens of trees victims of ash dieback in the garden. I contacted the Woodland Trust and they told me that 30% recover and, unless the trees is at risk of causing damage to property or people, they should be left to give a chance to recover.
One of the ones up the road from me on a misty autumn day in 2020
100%. They aren't suitable for many domestic gardens. At our last house we had around half a dozen 7/8M trees which were all self-seeded. I persevered with them for a few years but they dwarfed everything and took all the light as well as growing through the telephone and power lines. I wanted to keep them but each year I found I was willing to lose one which I did. Of course, when pruned they react with increased vigour and growth. One by one I had them removed over a period of several years. The garden benefited and, as a consequence, the wildlife did too.
At the end of the day it's down to the individual.
We had two very large ash trees in this garden when we came here ... one definitely had dieback and we had it felled.
The other (shown above) was pronounced healthy by the arborist .... but in recent years it's not been looking so good ... in 2020 it was very late into leaf and the foliage was sparse all year.
It's situated on a bank of gritty soil over chalk and the garden is very dry in the summer ... the arborist thought that it may have some die-back, but at any rate it was suffering from the lack of water (it was a very dry year ) ... he advised that to give the tree the best chance of fighting any dieback we could reduce its need for water by pollarding ... so that autumn he pollarded the tree (£600) ... it produced lots of fresh growth this year ... next year we'll thin the new growth and re-pollard every few years.
And a year later …
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks very much for all the comments. It doesn’t have any obvious signs of disease fortunately. I’m leaning towards reducing the crown for the time being.
When you talk to your arborist, my advice is to get him/her to talk through your options re future maintenance and costs ... maintenance every few years that requires a couple of men roped up and everything that entails (insurance etc) can cost a lot ... 😱 maintenance that can be carried out from ground level with loppers, or on ladders with a pruning saw will cost considerably less.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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So far so good so maybe you could just get the crown thinned on yours to reduce wind resistance. They do support quite a lot of wildlife, even if it's not all easily visible -
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/ash/#:~:text=Value to wildlife,of different species of wildlife.&text=Bullfinches eat the seeds and,as the lesser stag beetle.
Like you, it is in a Conservation Area and so not allowed to prune or cut down without permission from the Council. I couldn't see any sign of disease but as it also overhung a narrow road and I could see several dead branches, I was a bit concerned.
The Council's Tree Officer was very helpful once he'd realised I wasn't interested in getting rid of the tree but just wanted to lift the canopy and tidy it up. He came out to look and put me in touch with a local Tree Surgeon. Between the 3 of us, we worked out what needed doing. My first job was to try and remove all the ivy which had completely covered the 3 trunks so that the Tree Surgeon could check for any sign of disease. Luckily, it was deemed free of disease and the renovation pruning carried out at a cost of some £600. It was suggested that I had the tree checked out again after 3 or 4 years.
There are other Ash trees in the Church yard/Cemetary just a few metres away but they look pretty healthy so I just keep my fingers crossed.
My only argument with this tree is when it scatters it's seeds everywhere and I am forever pulling seedlings out. Over the years of neglect, no one bothered to do this so I have quite a few of the "children" which sit and stick 2 leaves up at me
As others have said above, if you can keep the tree it will be worth it.
At the end of the day it's down to the individual.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.