"David in Normandy" wrote in message
. fr...
On 11/11/2012 17:46, Sue wrote:

As regards using fallen leaves in streets and parks - do councils want
to reduce costs and get people to recycle more stuff or not? They're
always on at everyone to compost as much at home as possible. There must
be more serious problems to worry their little jobsworth heads about
than a few folk making some leaf mould from trees they paid for
themselves via the rates.


Probably some jobsworth who is afraid someone will pick up a disease from
any dog faeces in the leaf litter and sue the council. The UK is health
and safety / litigation mad.

In Bournemouth (IIRC) the risk was given as the possibility of needles being
contained with the leaves, so everyone would stab themselves and die of
AIDS/hepatitis/whatever.

We need a return to the concept of "at your own risk".

Steve

On 10/11/2012 18:56, wrote:
In article ,
Martin wrote:

The only problem I can see is IF they contain Ash leaves and IF those
leaves are infected with die back fungus...................

Not likely to be a problem. The evidence is that it is a wind-borne
disease, and the only ones that matter are soil-borne ones with
durable spores.

It might be a good idea if they stopped importing all plants from
infected areas. Having said that the spores can travel as much as 30
km they now claim they are being blown across the North Sea a distance
of at 200km.

Even if stopping imports had been done in time, it wouldn't have
worked. The distribution is strongly indicative of it being wind-
borne for hundreds of kilometres. Actually, a wind-borne fungus
parasite that is carried only tens of kilometres is implausible,
though the amount carried will drop off rapidly with distance.

Our prevailing wind mostly protects us from transfer of spores from
Denmark and the like, but once Spain has it we are in trouble. However,
since it is already here windborn transmission is secondary since like
with foot and mouth it will be road transport that moves them around!

Other weather/nature related news waxwings have been seen in larger than
usual numbers which may indicate a coming cold weather snap. If you have
tender easily frost damaged plants still out now is a good time to get
them in or risk losing them as I did in 2009/10.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:

Even if stopping imports had been done in time, it wouldn't have
worked. The distribution is strongly indicative of it being wind-
borne for hundreds of kilometres. Actually, a wind-borne fungus
parasite that is carried only tens of kilometres is implausible,
though the amount carried will drop off rapidly with distance.

Our prevailing wind mostly protects us from transfer of spores from
Denmark and the like, but once Spain has it we are in trouble. However,
since it is already here windborn transmission is secondary since like
with foot and mouth it will be road transport that moves them around!

Mostly is not good enough, and the incidence graphs indicate that
it did indeed arrive here on the easterlies.

I think the last sentence is wholly wrong. As far as I know, the
transfer of foot and mouth was almost entirely by wind or the transfer
of infected animals (read: plants!) And, from what I have heard, the
likelihood is that this is similar.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Martin wrote:

Our prevailing wind mostly protects us from transfer of spores from
Denmark and the like, but once Spain has it we are in trouble. However,
since it is already here windborn transmission is secondary since like
with foot and mouth it will be road transport that moves them around!

Mostly is not good enough, and the incidence graphs indicate that
it did indeed arrive here on the easterlies.

Have you got a source for that?

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/chalara

Specifically the 'wider environment' dots - of course, their actual
distribution could be that those are the only areas surveyed, but
that seems unlikely.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
. fr...
On 11/11/2012 17:46, Sue wrote:

As regards using fallen leaves in streets and parks - do councils want
to reduce costs and get people to recycle more stuff or not? They're
always on at everyone to compost as much at home as possible. There must
be more serious problems to worry their little jobsworth heads about
than a few folk making some leaf mould from trees they paid for
themselves via the rates.


Probably some jobsworth who is afraid someone will pick up a disease from
any dog faeces in the leaf litter and sue the council. The UK is health
and safety / litigation mad.

In Bournemouth (IIRC) the risk was given as the possibility of needles
being contained with the leaves, so everyone would stab themselves and die
of AIDS/hepatitis/whatever.

We need a return to the concept of "at your own risk".

Steve

So to get back on track - be very careful John Humphreys .

Bill

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
Did you hear on the Radio that John Humphreys is in trouble with his
local council? He has been helping himself to bags of leaves that
have been gathered up and piled in the street for collection, to be
taken away and incinerated. He is emptying the leaves onto his large
compost heap! He says some of the leaves are his anyway!!!
Apparently the council now incinerate the leaves because they have
been gathered in the street and are not suitable for composting!
Good for him I say, though perhaps he should go and gather upthe
leaves rather than letting the council do the job.

Pam in Bristol

I think he actually saved them some money but he probably should have done
it before they bagged them up.
Not sure why they aren't suitable for composting.