Growth on Birch.

[Stephen Blair]

Any ideas?

[Robert_S]

possibly witches broom mate.

 

witches'-broom (plant disease) -- Encyclopedia Britannica

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Hi Stephen,

 

Forgive me if I' guessing wrongly here but are you referring to the 'birds nests' looking structures on the branches?

 

If so I believe this is SB 'Witches Broom' (Taphrina betuli...or similar.)

 

If not, someone far better educated will be along soon.

 

Cheers..

Paul

[Stephen Blair]

Yes the growth on the branches

[PhilBeech]

Yep Witches Broom.

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

I would be more worried about the hideous topping!

[peatff]

I would be more worried about the hideous topping!

 

What else could you do to them ?

[Stephen Blair]

Well none of you guys were even close, it was 1 of these little guys:)

 

He was zonked!!

How he stayed up there I don't know and it was pretty windy:)

[treeseer]

Hideous is putting it mildly; but it depends on the objective of course.

 

What else could you do to them ?

1. Leave them alone.

 

2. Climb higher, use pole tools, make smaller cuts. (see avatar)

 

Any bets on how long it will take for the rot to get to the base?

 

Did the panda escape from the zoo?

Edited April 20, 2014 by treeseer

[peatff]

I went a ride up Cromford on my bike yesterday and saw something that looked very similar high up in a couple of Ash trees. I stopped and on closer inspection came to the conclusion that they were not Red Pandas but clumps of Mistletoe.