Storm Hector is hitting the UK today, particularly in Scotland, I believe. Here, on the Pennines of West Yorkshire, Hector is giving my garden a good old bashing and while so far nothing is damaged extensively, I was rather worried to see those beautiful but troublesome ash trees on neighbouring land, very close to my garden boundary, swaying under the impact of the wind. Many have grown tall, and thin, and top heavy, and very very close together, so that the roots must be jostling for space as certainly the trees themselves are. Tops of trees swaying does not concern me as believe it is natural and there is some flexibility in the trunks, but the trunks of the some of these ash trees are swaying only a few feet from the ground. It's unnerving. I think it is only a matter of time before one or more uproot and cause damage to whatever has the misfortune to be in the wrong place when they fall. I hope it's not me as the trees are immediately behind my garden room and within impact distance of my home.
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| Ash Trees (Fraxinus excelsior) with heavy load of seeds |
Ash tree invasionAsh trees should not be planted within 21 metres of a property. The trees in question are within 30 feet of dwellinghouses. The trouble is, each year the ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior), drop thousands of seeds which readily germinate and take root. Several young trees have taken root and are growing within feet of dwellinghouses and the roots are as vigorous as the dreaded bindweed. I pull them out whenever I see them, but I cannot stop them growing on neighbouring land.
I posted a couple of YouTube links showing the trees being blown by Storm Hector (for some reason, when I embedded the video clips here, they showed a black screen!)
Ash trees swaying during Storm Hector - YouTube clip
