Lime Tree Kretzschmaria Deusta

[AdamBa]

Hi,

I have a large 25m+ Lime Tree and I've been told it has an established case of Kretzschmaria Deusta by one tree surgeon.   There was a tree report completed by an Arboricultural Consultant 5 years ago (before I purchased the house) and in this report it noted "fungus, young fruiting body, unidentifiable".   I guess in the last 5 years the fungus has developed and can now be identified.   Please can someone explain what the likely outcome is for this fantastic tree?   I've read several different things online and I fear there may be no choice other than to fell it?   To add some context, you can easily pull away some rotten wood at the base where the disease is and the tree is 10m from my house and about 8m from my neighbours house.   I don't want to fell the tree, but if it's dangerous I guess there is no choice.....especially as I don't have unlimited funds.

Thanks in advance.

[Gary Prentice]

1 hour ago, Marc said:

i asked the contractor to send me a pic and to be fair it wasn't bad, bit gutted really.

Don't you just hate that?

[Marc]

9 minutes ago, Gary Prentice said:

Don't you just hate that?

A bit, more annoyed that I didn't judge the extent of decay and use it as a learning experience for the next one.

 

Dare I say it quite like the fact I got paid though, we are a service and even though the extent of decay was no where near as bad as I thought I felt it was the right call.

 

 

Back on topic the O.P AdamBa seems attached to his tree so I'd be looking at making a far more robust decision over what steps to take.

 

someone mentioned reduction is that wise given the Kretz ?

 

 

[AdamBa]

Thanks for all the input so far. The tree is within 10m of 3 houses, with 3m of electricity cables and within easy reach of where 3 or 4 cars are parked. Also my neighbours and I have kids that play near the tree, so I'm obviously quite concerned. Whilst I don't want to fell the tree it sounds like it may be the only sensible option. Time to speak with the tree officer as we are in a conservation area. Actually if the TO says to keep it and then it falls, how do I stand legally if it causes damage or injury? Surely the council would be liable, not me?

[Gary Prentice]

2 hours ago, Marc said:

 

 

 

 

 

someone mentioned reduction is that wise given the Kretz ?

 

 

Like any situation where colonisation has occurred, it's all a matter of degree, finding/trying to find a balance between reducing the lever arm while not reducing the trees ability to create the energy for defenders. 

 

Not it easy or an exact science.

[Mark Bolam]

What a shame, it's a nice tree.

Heavily reduced or felled it won't be a nice tree, but you can't really leave it alone.

[Marula]

A bit, more annoyed that I didn't judge the extent of decay and use it as a learning experience for the next one.
 
Dare I say it quite like the fact I got paid though, we are a service and even though the extent of decay was no where near as bad as I thought I felt it was the right call.
 
 
Back on topic the O.P AdamBa seems attached to his tree so I'd be looking at making a far more robust decision over what steps to take.
 
someone mentioned reduction is that wise given the Kretz ?
 
 

I don't think there's anything wrong in your call, if uncertain, especially with K.D then down it comes. We all have the odd tree where the decay wasn't as bad as we thought it was but whether the tree you ordered taken down came down now or in a years time it would still have had to come down.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

whilst the tree is seriously compromised it is mostly just because of the weight and leverage on the main stem and particularly the decayed root system. The tree can be retained (no question) but it would have to be as a pollard and greatly reduced form. Limes are fantastic survivors and some of the oldest trees, often failing only to regrow. I would like to see it salvaged as apposed to felling it on a fear alone basis. 

[Marc]

1 hour ago, SWORDSTA said:

 

I don't think there's anything wrong in your call, if uncertain, especially with K.D then down it comes. We all have the odd tree where the decay wasn't as bad as we thought it was but whether the tree you ordered taken down came down now or in a years time it would still have had to come down.

 

I agree, except for length of time, the Lime I felled whilst it's subjective looking at the extent I'd of put the sule above 10 years of left alone. 

I have worked on Beech trees literally riddled with Kretz and Gano some of it recorded for the last 20 years, gano particularly on Beech is not a major issue yet most treat it as a death sentence.

 

Not wanting to to send the thread off down another road.

 

AdamBa as far as my experience goes it's not the TO's call to make, you own the tree it's your responsibility not his, you could ask to remove it on the grounds of the Kretz and possibly the TO will remove the TPO.

Not always the case though as I have made such applications in the past and it has been turned down until I on behalf of the owner provided evidence of the extent of decay.

 

Also TO's are not always experts in the field of tree health care... and neither am I just some bloke with a bit of knowledge gained from years of dealing with mature trees.

[David Humphries]

9 hours ago, Marc said:

.......my general understanding is due to the nature of Kretz it can be difficult to qaunitfy extent of decay through either resistograph or sonic tomography - happy to be proved otherwise.

 

Had you seen our observations on decay mapping/detection of K. deusta Marc?

 

 

[Marc]

I obviously missed that, thanks for the link David.