Disease blighting Queen’s plane trees spreads throughout Britain
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 dry years has left the trees ‘stressed’ and vulnerable.
One of Britain’s oldest plane trees, planted 340 years ago in Ely, Cambridgeshire, is also under threat.
There are thought to be 120,000 plane trees – species of the genus Platanus, native to the Northern Hemisphere – in the capital alone.
Last night, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said massaria has taken hold elsewhere in the country. Landowners are urged to ‘monitor and assess the safety of plane trees on their land’, looking out for V-shaped lesions and falling branches.
The tree in Ely was planted in 1680 by Peter Gunning, then Bishop of Ely, and is one of the largest of its type in Europe, standing more than 120ft tall and 30ft wide. Groundskeepers 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 expert Greg Packman 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.’
John Parker, technical director at the Arboricultural Association, said plane trees were an important urban species that need to be saved.
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.’