What fungus? And is the tree dead?

[daltontrees]

12 minutes ago, Nimby said:

If I were you, I would check with your LA to see if there's a TPO or if you are in a Conservation Area. 

I wouldn't unless a quick reply was certain, I'd take it down under the "urgently necessary to remove an immediate risk of serious harm" exception and notify them just in case it is TPO'd.

[Nimby]

2 minutes ago, daltontrees said:

I wouldn't unless a quick reply was certain, I'd take it down under the "urgently necessary to remove an immediate risk of serious harm" exception and notify them just in case it is TPO'd.

Not sure I agree with that. Do you really think it's an "immediate risk"? I at least try and make contact with a TO first.

[Paul in the woods]

If the owner has just bought the house wouldn't any TPO or the fact the house is in a CA have shown up during the sale process?

[Chris at eden]

31 minutes ago, Paul in the woods said:

If the owner has just bought the house wouldn't any TPO or the fact the house is in a CA have shown up during the sale process?

You would think so wouldn't you but I met a solicitor a year or two ago who had been doing property conveyance for over 20 years.  He had been stopped from exchanging contracts at the last minute as the vendor had removed some pine trees the year before and not complied with the replacement condition.  The buyers solicitor then got twitchy over the issue and said they need to sort that first.  I met him on site and came up with a plan to replace the trees over the weekend and get the TPO updated.  He said that he had never heard of a protected tree in his 20 years and asked if it was something new.  As such, my advice would be never assume.        

[Chris at eden]

On ‎01‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 14:50, daltontrees said:

What a miserablely small amount of land to leave for such a big tree to struggle on in.

I suspect they have changed the levels at some point also, wall up or drive down, cant see much root flare.  Grade and compact 50% of the RPA for the drive and build a garage on another 25%.  I wonder why it has a root issue.    

[rory291]

I contacted my LA and they assured me it isn't a protected tree. We have had some quotes of around £1000 to take it down to a metre high stump. But a trusted friend of the family is doing it for around 600 in two weeks time, he is an experienced tree surgeon. We had someone come along saying the tree was fine and that the mushrooms were a sign of healthy soil! 

 

I was wondering...mushrooms are saphrophytic feeders aren't they? I removed one big growth about two weeks ago that weighed a couple of Kgs, it grew back fast! And now must weigh close to 6Kgs (it's huge!) But all that mass is directly from the tree isn't it? They obviously don't photosynthesise. 

[rory291]

I contacted my LA and they assured me it isn't a protected tree. We have had some quotes of around £1000 to take it down to a metre high stump. But a trusted friend of the family is doing it for around 600 in two weeks time, he is an experienced tree surgeon. We had someone come along saying the tree was fine and that the mushrooms were a sign of healthy soil! 

 

I was wondering...mushrooms are saphrophytic feeders aren't they? I removed one big growth about two weeks ago that weighed a couple of Kgs, it grew back fast! And now must weigh close to 6Kgs (it's huge!) But all that mass is directly from the tree isn't it? They obviously don't photosynthesise. 

 

Photos below taken today

Edited September 8, 2018 by rory291
New information

[daltontrees]

On 07/09/2018 at 14:10, Nimby said:

Not sure I agree with that. Do you really think it's an "immediate risk"? I at least try and make contact with a TO first.

No I don't know without seeing it in context. But it looks big and leaning toward the house and the loss of stringth in buttress roots is on the house side. And Meripilus doesn't take prisoners. So what I mean is I wouldn't waste time checking if the Council is known to be slow to verify TPOs. And then 2 months for a TPO decision if the was one. They'd be out of their minds to refuse, even if there was a TPO.

 

So to rephrase what I said, I'd assess the risk and if it was immediate and there was a risk of serious harm and the only way to remove it was to remove the tree, I wouldn't bother checking with the LA.

[treeseer]

6 kg may seem big, but I've weighed over 15 kg of fungus taken from white oaks twice before.  Bodnarziewia berkeleyii; not sure that's in the UK.

 

And both trees btw are being reduced and managed, for over 10 years now. 

[jfc]

Re weight of fruiting bodies. They are full of water, up to about 90%, there is not much to them when dried. I recently tried eating some giant poly (they are edible) but were tough as old boots and not very tasty! My book did say they were worth eating.