The leaves on the London trees have nearly all fallen away. Some years they cling tight until Christmas, when winter really sets in, but this year they are falling early and one cold morning will see them all lose their hold on the branches.
This year our ash trees are threatened by a fungus, and people are urged to burn the dead ash leaves in order to prevent the spread of the disease. We shall lose many ash trees over the coming years, perhaps on the scale that we lost elm trees in my youth. That being so we have to decide what trees should replace the ash when we replant.
Perhaps we should revert to the oak, that traditional tree of England and more than any other tree it was the tree upon which we founded our wealth. It built boats and cathedrals and simple homes. It will resist climate change for its lifetime and if we plant enough may well slow down the rate of climate change. Oak takes many years to grow, but we plant trees for our descendants, not for ourselves, and so the loss of our ash inheritance might provide a future inheritance of oak.
Filed under: climate change | Tagged: ash, ash trees, dead ash, elm trees, nature, oak, plant trees, plants, trees | 1 Comment »
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