A few days back I collected a very large ash tree which is about 3 foot high. Because of the place that it was, it needed to be collected asap and I could not wait until winter because it may not be there anymore. I’ve found with ash trees that they bounce back very easily indeed and need a fair bit of punishment to kill them off. Not that I wanted to do that at all, quite the opposite.
I went to collect the tree on my bike equipped with a few tools and a very large rucksack which I normally use for camping. I extracted the tree but had to cut off a few roots but still left a lot on it. The remaining roots were still so large that they would not fit in my rucksack which itself is 80 litres. I had no other option than to actually turn the tree upside-down in my bag so that the roots stuck out the top. Luckily there was not that many branches to damage at the top of it. I wrapped the roots up with a black plastic bin bag and cycled home.
I don’t live too far away from the site so when I got back I planted the ash tree directly into the soil in the back of my garden where I intend to keep it for a year or two so it can recover.
I am pleased to report that the tree seems fine. I think that because it has such a multitude of fine roots which I didn’t touch, it should be okay.
It’s not much to look at now but give it a year or two and it will be covered with new growth. Because it is so tall the large leaves which an ash tree has won’t matter much either.
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