BTC/115/2016 - According to Barrell...Quarantine needed to defend London plane trees. Horticulture Week Opinion (April 2016)
Plane wilt is a vascular disorder similar to Dutch elm disease and just as deadly, evidenced by its devastating impact in France. Just one short boat trip away and a London without plane trees will be the reality, not some remote scenario way down the list of national priorities. It only needs one infected tree to escalate prevention into a full-scale control firefight that we are unlikely to win. Somewhat surprising then that a daily stream of lorries from continental Europe is delivering hundreds of trees directly into UK landscapes with no credible regulation against this lethal threat.