ASH and Future

UPDATED 2026.01.04

What is the future of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior)? Do we need to put a point in the sentence "Ash and Future| in the middle, or can Ash survive?

European ash suffers from ash dieback all over Europe, and also in our forest. It is an important tree for us because our growing conditions are semi-wet, and from biology ash thrives on such soils. Ash stands somewhere between Oak and black alder in water demands. 

We have very good ash regeneration and a few old ashes left. Alarming is the speed of disappearance of old ashes, and even 30-40-year-old trees are dying. 

By observing ashes on the farm and elsewhere, we have found that there is more questions than answers about Ash dieback. 

There are several ways in which ash dies:

• The tree canopy slowly dies, and then the tree fall down with almost no live branches
• A tree falls in the summer, full of green leaves
• dead trees stand for many years

Generally accepted that the death of ash is a result of the ash dieback fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.

The dead top of Young tree. This is most probably  Ash dieback, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.

And there is also most probably the Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. on old tree.. the development of adventitious (epicormic) shoots is a stress response by the ash tree

By observing trees tree trunks,  there are damage to the sapwood  by Ash bark beetle Hylesinus fraxini

And there is a whole tree sapwood  eaten by ash bark beetle  

Ash bark beetle could be very high in canopy. This picture is taken from fallen adult tree top, branch diameter about 8 cm

If trees have bark, then in the beginning stage, it can look like this with small holes on bark

And at the end, there are two stages of death,

a) A dead tree is standing for years before Fallen
b) a live tree fallen to the ground, even with green leaves

By looking at the root system, there are live and dead partitions of the timber. And here, most probably on an ash dieback weakened tree, is growing Common Honey Fungus Armillariella mellea or other fungi that grow on live, half-dead, dead, and dead trees, mostly under the earth.

Dead zone to the left, live to the right

Armillaria spp (Honey fungus?) rhizomorphs on a fallen ash trunk.

By looking under bark, there are possibilities to find some other staff like:  bristly millipede Polyxenus lagurus

Banded Centipede Lithobius variegatus

Ash bark beetle cave system could  house unknown fungus

and bark edges can be perfect spot for  Candlesnuff fungus Xylaria hypoxylon

Late Fenugreek Stalkball - Phleogena faginea on uprooted ash 

Unknown mushroom on fresh fallen ash 

Persian walnut (Juglans regia) in Latvia

Persian walnut (Juglans regia) evaluation and selection project to obtain Northern Europe climate-adapted cultivars with good nut size, productive, and healthy trees. The goal is to select the best-adapted seedlings for local conditions.

Nuts

Pests and diseases (gallery)

Trunk issues and variety (gallery)

Walnuts Latvia. Finland 2023 Tuorlan pähkinäseminaariin  21.10

Walnuts (J.regia) in Latvia: a short history

Actually, Latvia is home to a significant number of walnuts. Most of the trees are found in the western part of the country, but I am increasingly finding them in the eastern part of Latvia, which experiences quite harsh winters. The oldest trees, I guess, is older than 100 years. Some trees in quite old age have been frozen down to earth and then grown back.

• Most of the trees are propagated by seed on site (up to the 1990s), or the youngest trees (from about 2000) have been bought from nurseries as seedlings. Seed origin: Ukraine, Moldova, Caucasus, and middle Asia. Only a few trees have a Western European origin.
• Oldest trees have experienced very cold temperatures during winters  (-30 to -40 °C)
  
• A lot of the youngest trees (after 1991) come from Gunvaldis Vesmiņš (1931-2017) nursery. Second-generation Moldavian walnuts.
  
• Some local origin second-generation trees are very promising as a potential variety for propagation by grafting. Today (2023) still no one graft walnuts in Latvia
• There are some selected walnut trees from Dobele horticulture institute/ Upitis third generation trees with very big nuts, but there are only two known trees in a private garden. Today no scientist continues this work there.
  
• Nut bearing started from y7 to y20, with an average number 12. In coastline areas vegetation season is shifted by two to three weeks. Nut harvest times vary from the beginning of September to October
  
• No pests and diseases that affect harvest. Younger trees suffer from late spring frosts. Main pests are crows and, in some places, squirrels.
  
• I could wish the better pruning and care for one leader. If there is a space, then trees grow very wide.
  
• There are a few walnut orchards with the aim of being commercial. The first one could start to have nut production in 2025 on a small commercial scale.
• Today, in the plant market possible to buy some locally propagated walnuts from private persons (very small scale), imported plants from Poland.
  
• There are some small-scale experimental plantings with Moldavian-origin grafted walnuts.
• Almost all walnut trees grow on private properties and are not publicly accessible.
  

Nut selection, one nut from each tree

Distribution map
Commercial walnut orchard Latvia