I had a good chat with Peter Donegan about removing the ash trees. The short version is remove as much of the taproot, as you can without driving yourself mad. The taproot is the main root of the tree, from which lateral roots sprout.

Don’t go chasing the lateral (or surface) roots as the benefit may be minimal. The lateral roots are the ones that fan out to provide support for the tree. These are unlikely to result in new growth so you can leave them in the ground and they should decompose eventually.

If new growth does occur, it won’t matter as the trees I’ve removed were in an area that will be mowed regularly. Any new shoots that appear will be removed before they have a chance to gain much mass.

Don’t take any of this as gospel, it’s what I interpreted/remembered from the chat. All I know is that I’m happy to have them removed.

There are some ash trees that are growing in some unwanted places. I asked Peter Donegan about the best way for me to remove these (in the case of the smaller ones I might be able to move them).

To better inform Peter of the problem at hand he asked I send him some photos of the trees in question.

The first one here is the biggest one which I needed to remove. I tackled it with the gruffán tonight and removed most of it (I think).

This is the biggest root and I’ve removed most of this. The remaining roots are probably less than ⅛" thick.

There are numerous saplings I need to (re)move too. These are much smaller than the one above.

So Peter, how much of the root system do I need to remove to prevent regrowth? Is it even possible with ash that it would regrow?

I’ll update this post with Peter’s advice.

While spending some time outside on Sunday I noticed this unusual fruit growing on a bush.

Do you know what they are? If so please send the answers on a postcard. Thanks.