Conservation charity, the National Trust for Scotland says that measures currently in place to control two potentially devastating plant diseases - Phytophthora ramorum and P. kernoviae (sudden oak death) – are putting important gardens at risk.

In a response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the future management of risks from these diseases, the Trust said that the Scottish Government’s approach of treating individual outbreaks as ‘hotspots’ in isolation could lead to the loss of historic landscapes, gardens and significant plant collections. Currently, in affected gardens, a 2 metre buffer zone has to be cleared around each infected plant within 30 days and all debris has to be burned.

The Trust has direct experience of dealing with the diseases at four of its gardens in the West of Scotland, and is concerned that historic landscapes and important plants are being lost before heritage impact assessments and remedial conservation planning or plant recording can take place.

Significant areas of the beautiful Brodick gardens on Arran have been cleared as a result of the current method of managing these outbreaks.

The charity is also asking the government to put in place financial compensation for nursery businesses and owners of affected land.

Both strains of sudden oak death attack a wide range of plants, especially shrubs like rhododendron and magnolia. The diseases spread quickly and are widespread in South West England.

The Trust is seeking a more strategic and co-ordinated approach that is consistent across the whole UK. More investment in research is needed, as are more inspectors to test for the disease and map its presence across Scotland.

Jan Haenraets, Head of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Services at the Trust said:

“These diseases are very serious for Scotland. The Trust will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to contain them, however, rather than using the present 30 day ‘hot spot’ approach for each site, a range of measures must be developed that take the scale of the outbreak and site-specific concerns into consideration.

“There is a real risk that, in the long term, this approach could cause irreversible damage to important historic landscapes. In some cases it does not give gardeners sufficient time to undertake the required measures.

“The Trust has been working hard with a range of stakeholders to combat the impact of these diseases, and every day, our own expert gardening staff put in huge efforts to control and contain them.

“These diseases don’t only threaten gardens. In England, there is a case where P. kernoviae has been found on heathland, so there are implications for wild landscapes too.

“We need to improve our knowledge of these diseases and their presence across the UK. Co-ordinated efforts to tackle them across Scotland, consistent with the rest of the UK are needed to protect our important gardens and landscapes for future generations.”

The Trust also responded to DEFRA’s consultation on the management of Phytophthora ramorum and P. kernoviae. Both responses are available at www.nts.org.uk/Policy/Work/.