Replanting following ash dieback
Managing a healthy population of trees is a priority for the Manydown Rural Estate including felling diseased specimens and replacing them with new native species.
Ash dieback, a major problem across the British countryside for more than a decade, has affected a significant number of trees on the Estate, some of which have sadly had to come down.
Managing trees affected by the fungal disease, which was first seen in the UK in 2012, is the responsibility of Keith Pegden and his team, who are long-standing contractors to The Manydown Rural Estate.
Keith said dealing with diseased trees close to public roads and rights of way was a priority to maintain public safety and that in every case the work was vital.
“Ash dieback effectively deprives the tree of all its sap,” he said. “It turns the timber into what seems like balsa wood and limbs can crack and fall off. Even whole trees can come down. Felling trees that are affected is essential.”
But Keith said native trees, including oak, hornbeam, silver birch, rowan, cherry and maple, were all being planted to replace the diseased ash trees, although the process could be a slow one and the loss of so many ash trees was having an impact on the landscape nationwide.
The symptoms of ash dieback include dark patches developing on the leaves in summer, which wilt, turn black and shed early. Lesions also develop where the trunk meets the branches. New growth can sometimes develop further down the trunk – a common response to stress in trees.
In addition to managing trees affected by ash dieback, Keith and his staff have also been busy creating new farm tracks across the Estate.
Keith said: “The priority is to get farm machinery from A to B quickly and safely and these tracks take agricultural traffic off the public roads, which are very busy.” He said the roads he and his team have built have a chalk base and smooth surface. “They’re built to last,” he added.
Olly Stratford, farm manager for EC Drummond, the agricultural contracting company which looks after the Manydown farms, has been responsible for planting new trees across the Estate.
He said: “We have planted approximately 2.5km of new hedges since 2019 with a further 475 metres planned for planting during winter 2024.
“The planting mix has been a traditional native mix including hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose, field maple and dogwood.
“We have also planted a total of 40 new trees early in spring 2024, including a mix of silver birch, sweet cherry, English oak and rowan in an attempt to fill some of the areas where ash trees have been managed due to ash dieback.”
Olly said the new farm tracks had brought major improvements, both for the running of the farm and in reducing the amount of farm machinery using the public roads in the area.
A total of 6.5km of farm tracks have been created since 2016 with a further 1.65km planned in the coming months.