Greeny News

Our obsession with gardening, opened the door to exotic pests and pathogens that bring death

A chestnut tree in a garden of young West London bled a red liquid on the bark last week. While it dries, it left a black tar stain several feet long. Two blocks away, another chestnut leaves ousted in early July. A fungal pathogen known as bleeding canker was to kill the first tree from the inside, while the chestnut leaf miner moth has been destroyed it. Neither tree all winter.

Meanwhile, last week in Plymouth, parts of a mature cypress hedge became lighter olive-gray like that around. It was a clear sign of bad omen, but a pathogen similar to a fungus known as Phytophthora side

attacking its roots and work your way up the inner bark. The disease has left a trail of destruction in the western states of the United States and Canada, but his arrival in England for the first time he struck fear into the heart of gardeners.

In scenes reminiscent of the foot 10 years ago, trees were cleared quickly, and their roots burned, because the infection can spread through the soil.

plant pathogens are increasing worldwide

and the United Kingdom is probably due to our warmer, wet winters and the globalization of trade, which allowed us to promote our love of gardens import millions of exotic plants, many of which can become ill.

"We now have six to eight organizations in the British Isles are a real concern in the 1960s and 70s was the Dutch elm disease, which killed 30 trees. In the decade from 1990 was a

Phytophthora

devastated

alders on the banks of rivers. But in the last 10 years we have new diseases that we had in the last 40 or 50 years " said Joan Webber, director of Forest Research pathologist, the arm of the Forestry Commission of Inquiry.

3m larch

More had to be slaughtered in the last three years to try to stop the spread of a disease called air

"was the highest in the nursery on the continent. We believe we have cornered in the south-east England, but is spreading in the air and that could devastate our trees. Now the pine processionary reached similar Paris from Italy and Spain is underway across Europe to us. It's just a matter of time before it happens. We are in the front line, "said Kirkham.

"It's a very difficult time for anyone who manages the trees. Bleeding ulcers on the right is spreading in southern England, and is now moving rapidly towards the north, so that Wales and New York. Everywhere you go in Southern England, a brown fight, "he said.
Roger Coppock , chief analyst of the Forestry Commission, said: "The international trade in plants has doubled over the last 10-15 years a large number of plants that come from the EU, but their origin. much further. There was a great demand for European plants. Our obsession with gardening is part of the problem. If we can not control these threats, the most comprehensive long-term social, environmental and economic impact is very important. "

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