Killer disease fears over ash trees at Bodenham Arboretum
The owner of Bodenham Arboretum is concerned that the award-winning visitor attraction near Kidderminster could fall prey to a killer disease which has devastated ash trees in East Anglia.
Mr James Binnian, whose father bought a derelict farm at Wolverley in 1973 and developed the 156 acre Arboretum, is concerned that the die-back fungal disease affecting ash trees could spread across the country.
He said: "I am concerned for the Arboretum, and the country in general. The Arboretum was first opened in May 1998 by the late Sir Bernard Lovell and has grown and grown since my father first bought the farm. It was 1997 when we decided to create a visitor centre and the Arboretum now contains more than 3,000 species of trees and shrubs.
"This disease could be a major problem. People are having a real go to contain it but we won't know until the Spring next year whether we have been hit."
