We are very lucky to deliver to Common Farm Flowers where we met up with Georgie and her scultptor husband on the run up to the Chelsea Flower show this year. This fabulous piece of Ash was on proud display, poignantly marking the beginning and the end for our Fraxinus Excelsior by the dreaded Ash die back ( Chalara Fraxinus )
We are still supplying locally felled Ash and have some of our own supply still standing, earmarked for felling as part of our own regeneration of our woodlands. What has become apparent, is that although we currently have no reported diseased mature trees in the Southwest, and that the spread of the disease from the East is believed to be slower that initially anticipated, that Ash for firewood logs is becoming difficult and expensive to buy. We know that once a UK grown tree is identified as being diseased, it will not enter the ‘timber’ industry for resale in any form whatsoever. Outside of the UK, there seems to be little control over diseased trees that are felled, and their onward use. It is fair to say that at this point there is no evidence to prove or disprove the spread of the disease in milled or felled timber.
It is the hope of the Forestry Commission, and other similar bodies, that strain resistant trees will be identified, and a replacement program begin as soon as possible.
In the interim, although Ash is often the first choice for many burning hardwood logs, I would encourage the burning of other firewood, Oak, Beech, Sycamore to name a few. All burn slightly differently, but all burn well if seasoned and have the correct moisture content, ideally between 20-25%
Ash is the only hardwood that can be burnt successfully with a higher moisture content, but in real terms you need a harder faster burn to obtain a good heat output, and will burn more logs in the short term, and less cost efficient. It also has to be said that wear and tear on a chimney, regardless of the construction, is at its’ greatest when burning unseasoned logs. ( See Mark Hart for all your chimney enquiries )
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