opinions sought

[Swampster]

Any thoughts on these pictures. There is no history of fires near by, nor of physical damage from impacts (vehicles etc). There appears to be signs of callousing at the periphery of some of the damage, indicating an attempt at recovery.

[sloth]

Old sun scorch/drought/armillaria?

[daltontrees]

It might be worth considering the possibility of Nectria coccinea. I will feel like such an idiot if it's not a Beech, but it has that lined and furrowed and white-streaked look on the bark of what otherwise should be a smooth barked tree.

[clima]

  daltontrees said:

It might be worth considering the possibility of Nectria coccinea. I will feel like such an idiot if it's not a Beech, but it has that lined and furrowed and white-streaked look on the bark of what otherwise should be a smooth barked tree.

 

May also be worth considering IF there is any root damage or soil/ Ph/ water changes due to the landscaping around the base of the tree. I have seen a few trees with similar conditions when their surroundings change, particularly if the ground was dug and any membrane placed beneath the gravel is not sufficiently permeable to allow water ingress.Also noticeable is that cars are parked on the gravel....is there any hardcore beneath it....if so, what might be in the hardcore, a surface capable of supporting vehicles first MAY have been dug and hardcore have been placed, therefore leading possibly to root damage. Just a thought worth pursuing with the owner.

[treeseer]

RCX; gravel and soil removal to suss out the subterranean spread of symptoms.

 

sloth's first two seem likely; was the area previously shaded?

[sloth]

Perhaps the gravel when new reflected more heat than the previous surface, another contributing factor perhaps?

[daltontrees]

Although I still think the early signs of N. coccinea or at least Cryptococcus fagisuga are there, it is more likely to be something that has caused bark separation or killing over a whole patch of stem.

Is that wee thing at the garage door a carved mushroom, is it carved from a stump? Was there another tree there until recently? Has its removal exposed the stem to scorch? Shadows show that the damage is on the sunny side.

I agree with others that the installation of teh gravel will have done some damage, it is a matter of degree depending on what and how mouch cover was scraped off, what was put back and whether it was compacted.

[woody paul]

In the first picture what is that sticking out the top of the tree.

[openspaceman]

  sloth said:

Old sun scorch/drought/armillaria?

 

It looks fairly recent with only a year or so's callus under the retained bark, no depressed area yet. No signs of torn fibres so not mechanical.

 

Crown seems healthy so I'm tending to heat damage. The shape of the area of necrotic bark will be telling.

[Swampster]

Hi and thanks so far.

I have yet to dig down so cannot comment on what lies below the surface, I will do some digging this week. I can also get more on the history of the surfacing too.

The thing at the top which protrudes above the canopy is a communications aerial, this has been in place for over 10 years. We shall be removing it and re-attaching it as required by our client. Possibly not ideal but that's the spec.

Thank you for your help and opinions.