The Place of Ash in Irish Forestry

I love going out to work every morning because I work in the wonderful hills of the West of Ireland. My business in Irish forestry has taken me all over the country, to the United Kingdom, and through many different European countries. One of the most profligate trees is which is planted on Irish soil is the Sitka Spruce. But, this tree is not a native of this country. It is however a tree which will grow on almost any style so it is planted vigorously. One of the trees which do grow on Irish soil is the Ash.

Ash wood is very strong, and ashtrays until quite recently times were thought to possess magic properties. For these reasons, the tree has often been allowed to grow up from the hedge even though it is very demanding of the soil. The Ash tree is most familiar in the shape of these isolated trees along the roads of most country areas.

But there are many pure Ash Woods which are unique to Ireland, England, and the UK in general. These generally will grow our outcrops of mountain limestone. In addition, Ash trees are found amongst other pioneer species as part of the process by which the Woodland takes over scrubland. The Ash is a hardwood and comes third in economic importance, after oak and Beach, so we may expect to find cultivated Woodland which are made from Ash all over the place.

Often these are coppiced, for poles of Ash are most useful for a whole variety of purposes. In all, there are four distinct habitats for the Ash tree. Two of these habitats are controlled by man and two more of these Ash habitats are more or less natural. Forestry Ireland specialises in forestry inspection pathways. But, we also tend young and deciduous forests such as Ash.