If the Hardy tree could talk, would it be telling us that “reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”? It certainly looked like it would photosynthesise no more following its collapse on Boxing Day last year. The untimely demise of the Hardy tree, generally attributed to the pathogenic bracket fungus Perenniporia fraxinea, was widely reported in the media over the Christmas holidays, but were we all being too hasty in mourning the passing of the ash? When I strolled through St Pancras Gardens earlier this week, I was surprised to see a healthy four-foot-high shrub growing out of the tombstones that used to surround the Hardy tree. The council still has a seven-foot-high security fence surrounding the site so it is impossible to get up close. I’m no expert but peering through the fence it looked to me like there is a of bunch of ash saplings sprouting from a piece of the supposedly dead tree, just as they would grow from a coppice stool. Which can only mean the tree is not dead. Ash is a very robust species and can survive in very difficult conditions and through apparently catastrophic injury. The fact that the tree ever took root amongst a barren arrangement of tombstones, its roots moulding itself like tentacles around the headstones, is testament to that. Will the saplings survive the bracket fungus that must still be infecting the roots? Will the council leave the saplings to grow and try form themselves into a new crown? Or will they ruthlessly prune it back? Let’s pray that they the Hardy Tree a chance to resurrect itself if it can; that will be heartening to be see, a minor miracle of resilience.
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