Disease blighting the Queen’s plane trees spreads through UK
A DEVASTATING disease that has blighted trees at Buckingham Palace and nearby Royal Parks has spread throughout Britain, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The fungal disease, called massaria, destroys branches on plane trees and is believed to be thriving because a run of comparatively dry years has left the trees ‘stressed’ and vulnerable.
One of Britain’s oldest plane trees, planted 340 years ago in Ely, Cambridgeshire, is under threat as well as thousands in London, including those at Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and St James’s Park. There are thought to be 120,000 plane trees in the capital alone.
Last night, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs revealed that massaria has also taken hold elsewhere in the country. A spokesman said: ‘The disease has been found affecting small numbers of trees in Southampton, Bristol, Ely and York.’
Landowners were urged to ‘monitor and assess the safety of plane trees on their land’, looking out for large lesions and falling branches.
The tree in Ely was planted in 1680 by Peter Gunning, then Bishop of Ely, in the Bishop’s Palace Garden, and is one of the largest of its type in Europe, standing more than 120ft tall and 30ft wide.
Groundkeepers there recently warned the tree is ‘under attack’ from massaria. Will Temple, head gardener at King’s Ely school, who manages the site, told groundskeeping trade magazine Pitchcare that authorities have removed thousands of plane trees across Europe, ‘ so it’s quite important that we promote the species, get the tree noticed and more of them planted.’
Massaria causes large, V-shaped lesions on the surfaces of major branches and can cause them to break off and fall – posing a safety hazard.
Last week, it emerged that the Queen had instructed gardeners to prune and chop down several of the affected trees at Buckingham Palace.
Massaria expert Greg Packman, who has studied more than 50,000 planes, said the disease is now ‘the main consideration’ for tree inspectors in London and large swathes of the South East.
Mr Packman, who was a Royal Parks tree officer before moving to Islington council in North London, where he is a senior tree inspector, said the disease was first confirmed in UK planes in 2003 and has since spread to most of the population.
He said: ‘Due to the risk management aspect, many mature plane trees have to be inspected more frequently and have tree-surgery work to reduce the risk from falling branches.’
However, there are concerns that cutbacks by cash- strapped local authorities will lead to more trees becoming infected.
John Parker, technical director at the Arboricultural Association, said plane trees were an important urban species that needed saving.
He said there was no known cure for massaria, adding: ‘The key to this disease, as with many of them, is proper monitoring and management. Only if local authority tree officers are properly supported and resourced to inspect and manage our urban trees will the problems be kept under control.’