Fraxinus excelsior,
or the European Ash tree is a species that’s been in the news a substantial
amount over the last year or so, due to the recent discovery of the ash die-back
fungal disease, Chalara fraxinea. It
really is a shame that we may lose a huge number of this rather amazing species
in the UK. I've described it as amazing purely because of the diversity of uses
that the timber from an ash tree has, let alone for the many invertebrate
species associated with this species.
A few posts ago I mentioned the bend that can often be found
in the base of ash tree trunks. Whilst visiting Oxburgh Hall on a work day out
the other day I came across these incredible ash trees, with an almost 90
degree curve in the stems.
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I usually go for stems of a slightly smaller diameter to
carve my spoons out of, so that I only have to split the wood once in half.
However, I seem to recall Ben Law talking about using this type of growth in
ash trees for the construction of a certain type of support or beam in his
woodland house featured on Grand Designs. I did a quick search on the
internet to see if I could find out any information on this type of growth, and a
name for it; this wasn't very successful though.
It would be great to find out why ash trees often exhibit this type
of growth. Leave a comment if you have any ideas or can point me in the
direction of finding out more!
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