-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Ash [SMTP:Tony.Ash@xxxxxxx.gov.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 1999 12:11 PM
To: 'UK Tree Care'
Subject: RE: Armillaria
UK Tree Care - http://www.oak-wood.co.uk/uktc/
So do we encourage ourselves , schools and the like to make dead wood
piles
and other such wildlife habitats to encourage Local Biodiversity
action
plans? We shall certainly do so here whenever it is appropriate.
Regards
Tony
-----Original Message-----
From: Cox, Dermot [mailto:DCox@xxxxxxxxxxx.gov.uk]
Sent: 15 December 1999 09:38
To: 'UK Tree Care'
Subject: RE: Armillaria
UK Tree Care - http://www.oak-wood.co.uk/uktc/
Gardeners do most harm to themslves by the simple expedient of
"tidying up"
most seam to have a manic desire to remove deadwood and rotting leaf
mould
form the garden - removing the habitat for the competing fungi... and
bingo
they suffer!
-----Original Message-----
From: David Evans [SMTP:arborcentre@xxxxxx.msn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 1999 9:35 AM
To: 'UK Tree Care'
Subject: RE: Armillaria
UK Tree Care - http://www.oak-wood.co.uk/uktc/
For arguments sake:
That a tree stump becomes a seat of infection and an inoculum source
as a
consequence of a natural act, such as windthrow, would, in my
opinion,
make
little difference. The reason being that if a tree was rendered
hazardous
by partial windthrow, for example, then the owner would still be
liable
for
the endangered state of the tree, despite the cause of the hazard
being a
natural event.
In the UK, a duty of care is conveyed by The Occupiers' Liability
Act
(1957
& 1984), and a number of court cases. This requires the owner to
take
reasonable steps to prevent, or minimise, the risk of personal
injury and
damage to property. Failure to carry out this duty of care may
render the
owner liable and consequently they could be found negligent. Proof
of
negligence requires that it was reasonable for the owner to have
foreseen
the potential for damage, and that they could have taken a course of
action
to prevent or minimise it. Case law has determined that the owner
may not
necessarily have the expertise to determine whether the trees they
own
pose a risk of personal injury or damage to property, but that they
would
be expected to take reasonable steps to meet their duty of care. ie
employ
someone with the necessary expertise. In the Honey Fungus scenario,
I
know
of no case law that sets a precedent (hence the original posting),
but if
the stump is the source of damage to a third party's property, then
there
may be scope within this framework to pursue the matter. Which
hopefully
would be unnecessary. The crux is whether it was reasonably
foreseeable.
At present this is unlikely. However, a report from an
arboriculturist
informing the occupier of the damage that their stump is inciting,
would
make it reasonably foreseeable, and that a course of action could be
undertaken to minimise the damage - remove the stump.
Re: Scott Cullen's posting - Not sure what may ISP's been up to but
only
received your posting this morning. I would be very cautious about
attempting an ID from rhizomorph morphology. In the UK it is
certainly
thought too uncertain a practice to identify the species of
Armillaria
from
rhizomorphs or fruiting bodies, for that matter. Lab tests are
comparatively straight forward and could be used to determine
whether the
species and genotype that is responsible for the damage, is
compatible
with
that colonising the stump (The Forestry Authority and Royal
Horticultural
Society at Wisley can provide this service). Roland Fox at Reading
University has been working on a testing kit that is supposed allow
ID in
the field - I shall try to find out how this has developed, and let
you
know.
Your point about the origin of infection of the stump is a line of
reasoning that would be expected from the other side. It could be
that
infection originated from the would be plaintiff's garden, infected
the
stump, only to be returned in spades (sic). However, a stump
markedly
increases the likelihood of inoculation by spores. And would it make
much
of a difference, because it is the creation of the stump that has
provided
an environment conducive to elevating the fungus' pathogenicity.
Moreover
an attempt to pursue the origin of the infection could easily
degenerate
into the realms of evolution, or the Garden of Eden, for any
creationists
out there.
Also from the other side. Are the cultural activities of the would
be
plaintiff good practice? It could be the case that they have
predisposed
their plants to infection by poor practices. Keen gardeners are
often
very
adept at encouraging and spreading pests and diseases by moving and
transplanting infected plants; importing infected material; growing
plants
at the outer most range, or outside, of their tolerance; over
zealous
applications of herbicides and insecticides; and inappropriate
applications
of fertiliser in the mistaken belief that they're feeding their
plants (It
says so on the packet). To name but a few.
Cheers
Acer ventura
-----Original Message-----
From: Dorothy Hartshorne [SMTP:arborinfo@xxxxx.com]
Sent: 14 December 1999 00:33
To: UK Tree Care
Subject: RE: Armillaria
UK Tree Care - http://www.oak-wood.co.uk/uktc/
Just for arguements sake....trees that break off in storms leave
stumps
too although this is not as common an occurrance as the chainsaw
created
type lets say that the infected stump in question was created by
nature
not by man....What then?
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