Ash dieback in Stockport and Cheshire: how to spot it and what to do

Published 2 November 2026

Ash is one of the most common trees in gardens, hedges and cloughs around Stockport and north-east Cheshire, and ash dieback is now widespread across Greater Manchester and Cheshire. If you’ve got an ash that’s looking thin, this guide covers how to tell whether it’s dieback, what your options are, and the permissions to check before anyone picks up a saw.

What ash dieback is

Ash dieback is a disease caused by a fungus, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, which originally came from eastern Asia. Forest Research says it was first confirmed in the UK in February 2012, although its scientists have found evidence it arrived before 2006. It is now present across most of the UK.

In Greater Manchester, the first cases were reported in Bolton, Bury and Rochdale in October 2014. A 2015 leaflet from the Red Rose Forest team estimated there were about a million ash trees across Greater Manchester and said the disease was likely to spread throughout the county.

The spores are produced on fallen, infected ash leaves between June and September and are carried on the wind, which is why a tree in a Marple garden can catch it from a woodland miles away.

How to spot it

Forest Research says the best time to look is July to September. Once leaves start turning in late September and October, healthy autumn leaves can look a lot like diseased ones, so a check now is less reliable than one next summer. Signs to look for:

• Leaves that go black and wilt, and drop early
• Shoots that blacken and wilt, usually in mid to late summer
• Dark, diamond-shaped patches on the bark, often centred where a twig or branch joins a bigger branch or the trunk. These can spread right round a stem and cut off its water supply, so everything beyond them dies
• Smaller lesions that have dried and cracked as the branch has grown round them, which you can see at any time of year
• Dieback in the crown, with bare, dead twig tips at the top and edges of the tree

Some things are easily mistaken for the disease. Forest Research lists ash coming into leaf late in spring, ash keys (seeds) hanging on in autumn, and normal autumn colour. Poor growth can also come from drought, waterlogging or root damage, so one bad year doesn’t always mean dieback.

Will the tree die?

There’s no cure. The Forestry Commission expects most ash trees to die or be significantly affected. Young trees can die quickly. Older trees can hold on for years, but they’re often finished off by a second problem such as honey fungus. A small number of trees seem to tolerate the disease, and those are valuable for breeding more resistant ash, which is one reason the advice is not to fell living ash unless it’s needed for safety.

Fungicides can hold the disease back on a particularly valuable tree, but Forest Research says they usually need reapplying, possibly every year.

Do you have to do anything?

There’s no legal duty to treat or remove a tree just because it has ash dieback, unless you get a Statutory Plant Health Notice, which Forest Research says is unlikely. But you are still responsible for your trees under the normal duty of care. The Forestry Commission’s advice for individual ash trees is to deal first with those near roads, buildings, paths and places people use often, and to keep dated notes and photos of their condition. Those records show you were aware of the risk and acted on it.

An ash in the middle of a big garden can usually just be watched. An ash leaning over a drive, a road or a neighbour’s house in Bramhall or Hazel Grove needs more attention.

Your options

Depending on how far the disease has got and what’s underneath the tree, the Forestry Commission lists these options:

• Keep and monitor trees that are unaffected or low risk, checking them each summer
• Remove the dead wood, which is often enough for a lightly affected tree. See our deadwooding page
• Reduce or pollard the crown to take weight off weakened branches. See crown reduction and tree pollarding
• Fell trees that are badly affected, especially within falling distance of a house, road or path. See tree removal

One thing that sets ash dieback apart is what it does to the timber. As the tree declines, the wood loses strength and becomes prone to breaking, which makes working on it more dangerous. The Forestry Commission says only trained, experienced tree surgeons should work on ash with obvious or advanced dieback. It’s not a job for a ladder and a bow saw.

Permissions to check first

Having ash dieback doesn’t, on its own, let you skip the usual rules.

Felling licences. Trees in a garden are exempt from needing a Forestry Commission felling licence. Ash in a paddock, a field hedge or a small wood outside the garden may need one. The Forestry Commission says there is a dangerous-tree exception, but it’s meant for exceptional cases, and dieback alone isn’t enough. If you rely on any exception, keep evidence such as dated photos or a professional’s report.

Tree Preservation Orders. A TPO still applies to a diseased ash. Councils around here regularly deal with these requests. In November 2025, an application was made to Cheshire East to fell two protected ash trees in a Wilmslow garden that were in the late stages of ash dieback. Dead trees and trees that are an immediate danger have their own rules, explained in our guide to the signs a tree could be dangerous.

Conservation areas. You must give the council six weeks’ notice before work. In May 2026, Stockport Council approved a conservation area notice to remove two ash trees with dieback in Marple Bridge.

Our guide to whether you need permission to cut down a tree in Stockport covers the councils for each area. Our protected trees page explains how we handle applications.

Wildlife

Dead and dying trees are important habitat, and bats can roost in the cracks and holes that appear in declining ash. The Forestry Commission reminds owners that damaging a bat roost is an offence, so a tree should be checked before it’s felled. Birds’ nests are protected too. See our guide to bird nesting season and tree work.

Replanting

You can’t replace an ash with another ash at the moment, because moving ash plants is banned to slow the disease. Where a felling licence is needed, it will usually require restocking. The Forestry Commission suggests a mix of species that suit the site.

Council trees and reporting

If the ash is on a street, in a park or on council land, report it to the council rather than the nearest householder. Stockport Council and Cheshire East both have online forms. Forest Research’s TreeAlert tool is mainly for reporting ash dieback in areas where it hasn’t been recorded yet, so check its distribution map before sending a report from Stockport.

How our teams help

If you’ve got an ash that’s thinning out in Marple, Bramhall or Wilmslow, our teams can take a look, tell you how far the disease has got and talk you through the options, from monitoring to removal. We’ll also check for a TPO or conservation area before any work starts. See our ash dieback service page, or get a free quote.