AS THE government announces the presence of a virulent tree disease in Essex, the owner of an award-winning nursery has taken the drastic decision to burn all of his stock to prevent the infection from spreading.
Paul King, who owns King & Co Nurseries in Dunmow Road, Rayne, does not believe that enough has been done by the government to stop the spread of ash dieback, caused by a fungus called Chalara fraxinea. As a result, he has burned £10,000 worth of ash tree stock in an attempt to help quell the crisis in Essex.
"We knew what was coming so we reduced our stock of all ash trees," he said. "But ultimately we have taken the strategic decision to remove them all from our stock. We are pre-empting the problem."
The disease, which was first recognised in England in March, causes leaf loss and crown dieback and can kill the tree. It is responsible for the death of 90 per cent of ash trees in Denmark.
Mr King added: "What I think will happen is that the government will eventually establish disease-free zones and within these zones we will be able to continue trading in ash, so we want to be in one of these disease-free zones.
"Ash is one of the main native trees in the UK and most planting schemes would incorporate a certain amount of ash."
The disease has now been confirmed in trees at 14 nurseries, 36 planting sites and 32 forests and woodlands across the UK and was confirmed in Essex by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson on Monday, although the exact location was not revealed.
After the announcement Mr King, who has owned King & Co for 35 years, spent two days burning around 200 of his trees.
"I'm a grower so I'm only looking at the bio-security of our nurseries and I want to be sure that we are not vulnerable to any disease coming in," he said.
"Trees are perishable so we are not un-used to taking a hit here and there, although this is one of the biggest hits we have had. It's one of the hazards of this game."
Mr King is also advising gardeners and landowners to take action to stop the disease spreading.
He said: "The general advice I would give is to rake ash leaves up and burn them because the disease is spread by the spores that can be found on them."
Imports of ash trees were banned as of October 29.