Tokyo, Japan

Trunk covering for Prickly Ash (Sansho).

Dear All, In a moment of madness, I nearly cut down my Sansho tree (8 metres high) to make an interesting stair handrail. But, I have decided to keep and cherish it.

One of my main concerns has been its very sharp protuberances and actual thorns on the trunk, which are very dangerous for my young children. It is in an area where fencing it off might be a possibility, but would look a bit out of keeping with the rest of the walk.

My question: do you think the tree would suffer if I wrapped its trunk to eye level in some thick tree cloth, or even grass matting which is readily available here in Japan. The Japanese go in for wrapping trunks more than in the West, but I have never seen it done on a Sansho. My concern is discoloration (when the kids are old and sensible enough I would remove it) or worse still, some kind of fungal growth due to the lack of air circulation and potential build up of moisture. Any comments and suggestions very welcome. regards, pdf180.

On plant Prickly Ash (Sansho)

• 1 Mar, 2011