Help keep killer disease out of Jersey

Saturday 15 August 2015

Scientists hope you can help keep a killer disease out of Jersey and protect our local fruit trees and hedgerows by watching what you order online.

Fireblight is a serious bacterial disease that has been killing off fruit trees and woody shrubs in parts of the UK and many other European countries.

The Environment department works with local retailers to make sure they only source plants from officially approved nurseries and there are strict controls in place over the importation of hawthorn, flowering quince, medlar, pear, firethorn, stranvaesia, eriobotrya, sorbs and apple trees.

But they can’t keep track of what Islanders are ordering online and say there’s a real risk infected plants could be arriving in the post.

They say if you are buying apple or pear trees or any other plants online you should check the supplier is reputable and that the plants they stock can be sent to a Fireblight protected zone.

And the department are warning that any plants brought back to the Island that come from non-approved nurseries could be destroyed.