Is the old Ash tree dying?

I was on the orchard this morning to retrieve some fence posts. I noticed the large old Ash tree has dropped another large branch. That's the third large branch the tree has shed in the space of 12 months. This branch weighed about 50 kilos, I'm glad no one was under that when it fell, and thankfully it missed all the young fruit trees.

I think the tree is about 150 years old, maybe it has started to die of old age. Over the past few autumns I've noticed some honey fungus at the base of the trunk. 

Edit 26th May 2019:

The leaves on the big Ash tree are quite slow to appear this year, well behind the other ash trees around the orchard.

Local angling club pays a visit

I was hard at work cutting down overgrown grass and thistles in the orchard site yesterday when the officials of the local angling club paid a visit. We'd spoken on the phone before but it was good to meet them in person. They were spending some time cutting down Himalayan Balsam while awaiting delivery of 200 young grayling fish. They are re-introducing the grayling into the River Ecclesbourne. The young fish had been raised in a local fish farm using grayling parents borrowed from the nearby River Derwent. I was leaving for some well earned lunch just as the car arrived carrying two large plastic bags containing water and fish. The release of fish was supervised by the local nature conservancy organisation.

We are really pleased with the progress of the hedges which we'd had relaid earlier this year. There are some gaps in the hedge we'll need to deal with, but overall it has been very successful. Even though it seemed expensive at £11/metre compared with wire stock fence at £4/metre the results are worth the extra expenditure. 

Ash shoots in relaid hedge

We particularly pleased that the ash trees which were extensively damaged by sheep during the winter have pulled through and are successfully sprouting after pleaching and laying of the restored hedgerow. The hungry sheep had almost completely ring-barked the trees. In the picture below you can see the see the same tree/sapling after the sheep damage (it is the thicker light brown trunk).

We're still waiting for a quote from a local fencing contractor to provide a stock fence to protect the hedge from grazing animals. It's only been three months delay so far! This chap was recommended by our neighbouring farmer, but it is stretching our patience a bit, so we'll probably go back to the contractor we used for the roadside stock fence. 

Last autumn we experimentally felled three Ash trees to evaluate how well they'd respond to coppicing. During the past couple of days we've noticed there is some lively regrowth around the base of the felled tree.  This is important as we want to make sure the trees on the embankment slopes continue to live after coppicing. If they die away it could be bad for soil stability.

We're not completely mowing the field. We're leaving some stands of grass and natural plants we'll allow to grow to full height. This will help to improve diversity while not allowing the weeds to rampage.

Sheep 1 Orchard Site 0

We visited the site today and found three sheep on the land. Our fence repair is intact so they must have found another route on to the land. They soon retreated when we started a chain saw to do some work. We don't want to panic them because at this time of the year they are probably pregnant. 

We discovered the sheep had gnawed the bark from some off the branches we'd felled a couple of weeks ago. I'd imagine that unprotected fruit trees would suffer the same fate.

We spend a couple of hours cutting down small trees and working to tidy the embankment. It was mostly ash and hawthorn, but now there is a large pile of branches which need trimming and brushwood to burn or turn into wood chippings. It was hard work, with loads of thorns grabbing at us, but the result was satisfying. We removed four trees which were leaning over the fence and threatening long term problems. We cut their bases low in the normal coppicing style. It's far better to remove them now rather than waiting until the fruit trees are established.

Sheep Damage

In the picture you can see some of the damage caused to an Ash tree and an Elderberry shrub. The sheep have completely debarked a long section on each tree. Those trees will need to be dut down and coppiced to see if they'll recover.


Edit: 22/12/13 We met with Adrian, the guy who's going to lay the hedges. He told us sheep love to eat the bark from ash tree branches. Sure enough it was those branches in the log pile which the sheep had chewed.

Plans for use of the land at the Turnditch Orchard Project.

We've been asked what we are planning on the Turnditch Orchard Project.

The long thin rectangle shape of the land is not good for agricultural machinery techniques. It would be great for property development, but we've absolutely no intention of following that route. The land will remain agricultural and we intend to take a regular harvest from the land.

Present conditions

The site appears to have been neglected for many years. The level part is overgrown with uncut grass, extensive thistles and Alder shrubs. Many ants nests have made the ground very uneven. The road embankment, which forms part of the property is covered with unmanaged native tree, mostly English Ash and some Hawthorn. The hedges are unmaintained and ineffective. some of the trees tower over the Ashbourne Road (A517). Many of the fences are in poor condition and the stone posts to the entrance gate are damaged.

Planned actions

• Clear the grass and weeds with a scrub cutter;
• Create natural compost area
• Repair the gate posts and gates;
• Make the access secure;
• Create a temporary tool store;
• Take advice on the large old Ash tree;
• Clean out the undergrowth and unwanted trees in embankment area;
• Cut the chosen trees for coppicing;
• Trim trees overhanging the road;
• Restore the hedges;
• Cut the wood into logs and store for seasoning
• Turn unwanted wood into chips;
• Turnover the level ground soil with Rotavator & check drainage;
• Plant meadow seed, herbs and crops;
• Restore fences;
• Set up bee hives;
• Create safe access to the river.
• Select orchard trees for planting.

When these action are largely complete we'll discuss providing access to local villagers. The intention of coppicing is to provide greater nature diversity on the embankment and also provide a wood crop in the future years. It will look a little stark initially, but will provide some great benefits.

Fruits of the Orchard Project

We've already been able to gain some fruit from the Orchard project. Even though the gound is an overgrown jungle there are some native wild fruit bushes. Yesterday we were able to pick up 2.5 Kg of wild plums (Bullace) and 0.8 Kg of Dog Rose hips. The Bullace are quite sour, so they'll be turned into a form of Sloe Gin. The hips will be turned into syrup. Both a fragrant gift in time for Christmas.