Copper beech fungus

[Sickcopperbeech]

Hello

I'm hoping somebody might be able to help me

We bought a house at the start of the year and it has a huge copper beech at the front

Before we purchased the house, we were told one had to be removed from the back and a neighbour also had one removed due to disease

We are waiting for planning permission so not currently living in the house

We went to see the house today and notices there are three seperate breakouts of fungus at the base of the tree

Can anyone identify the fungus? And is it terminal for the tree? The tree has a TPO. Do we have to go through planning to have it removed?

We are on an estate and a couple have fallen down....I'm worried with winter approaching

Many thanks

Ps I've attached a picture, you can just seen another of the breakouts to the left hand side

[treequip]

Something that hasn't been touched on is the worst case scenario.

 

Any insurance you may hold expects you to behave in a prudent manner so having identified the problem you need to act.

 

This is going to mean the tree needs to go or you need someone to put pen to paper on a cyclical basis to say its OK.

 

You can also accept the fact that the insurers wont cover losses arising from an incident they can disown and keep the tree.

 

The condition isn't going to get better and how fast its going to deteriorate is a lottery.

 

Gather all the info you can and make an informed choice

[Sickcopperbeech]

Thank you all so much

I have now contacted our residents association and got the details of the people they use (they have them surveyed every 5 yrs, there are a lot of beautiful massive trees so they do a group 3rd party insurance on them)

I'll call them tomorrow

I'll post the outcome & more pictures

Thanks again, this is a great forum!

Olivia:001_smile:

[David Humphries]

Thank you all so much

I have now contacted our residents association and got the details of the people they use (they have them surveyed every 5 yrs, there are a lot of beautiful massive trees so they do a group 3rd party insurance on them)

I'll call them tomorrow

I'll post the outcome & more pictures

Thanks again, this is a great forum!

Olivia:001_smile:

 

 

Hello Olivia

 

some fine advice given so far, looking at the various options available to you.

 

Something that Sal touched on early that I would be interested in also (if you get the opportunity) is that the ground shots appear to show some disturbance around the section of the root crown alongside the fruiting areas.

 

Quick observation (purely for my own interest, so apologies for the tangent). Why the lack of buttress on the one side? Previous girdling root? Just curious

 

There is a lack of grass which (discounting that its not associated with the shadow of being on the north side of the tree) may suggest that a previous owner has had a root examination (either by hand digging or by airspade) carried out by an Arboriculturalist to assess the lack of root buttressing apparent on that side of the tree.

 

If this is the case there may be a record/assessment report of the tree and its health at that time.

 

(for your reference, the last shot shows a typical root examination carried out by an airspade to assess the level of dysfunction/decay in the roots)

 

Its entirely possible that this my have been part of your mortgage documents ?

 

If not, it may be worth (or perhaps too late) to track it down.

 

This information could help any future consultant/arb in assessing the the tree, if you decide to take that route.

 

regards

 

David

 

 

.

[Sickcopperbeech]

Thank you David

As far as I am aware, there has been no recent root assessment, I've checked though the deeds as you suggested

The side with no grass is north facing

The tree is assessed every 5 years 'which merely notes obvious physical signs of problems, and make a time recommendation for further analysis or tree surgery'

This was last done in 2011 and the notes were as follows;

"Incompatible graft with fluting at above 1m. Main fork with included bark at 4m. Low canopy density with significant dieback in upper crown"

Suggested remedial action (not undertaken from what I can make out)

"Install bracing system between two main stems. Remove dead wood"

Our residents association has given us a number and suggested we have a PICA survey undertaken

From everything I've read here I'm not sure the survey is a good use of cash if we then need to take it down

What do you think? Would you go with the survey? (Next group one is due 2016 but now we've seen the fungus I've been told we need to act)

Thank you!

Liv

[Sickcopperbeech]

....and yes, I totally agree, some fine advice! A knowledgable helpful group

[David Humphries]

Thank you David

As far as I am aware, there has been no recent root assessment, I've checked though the deeds as you suggested

The side with no grass is north facing

The tree is assessed every 5 years 'which merely notes obvious physical signs of problems, and make a time recommendation for further analysis or tree surgery'

This was last done in 2011 and the notes were as follows;

"Incompatible graft with fluting at above 1m. Main fork with included bark at 4m. Low canopy density with significant dieback in upper crown"

Suggested remedial action (not undertaken from what I can make out)

"Install bracing system between two main stems. Remove dead wood"

Our residents association has given us a number and suggested we have a PICA survey undertaken

From everything I've read here I'm not sure the survey is a good use of cash if we then need to take it down

What do you think? Would you go with the survey? (Next group one is due 2016 but now we've seen the fungus I've been told we need to act)

Thank you!

Liv

 

Olivia,

 

If by PICA you mean Picus sonic tomograph, I don't imagine this would be the best use of money as tomography can only really focus on the function of the trunk volume and not the roots.

 

Meripilus giganteus is a root coloniser, in my opinion soil excavation to assess the roots would be a beter use of funds if there is an appetite to explore further options for this tree.

 

If the Picus option is being suggested as a way of assessing the graft, then that is a seperate issue.

 

As others have suggested, only a site visit by an experienced Arborist will provide you sound advise to act on.

 

The Arboricultural Association had a list of Registered Consultants that may operate in your area.

 

Directory of Arboricultural Association Registered Consultants

 

 

 

.

[Steve Bullman]

In answer to your question about method of removal, it is not too big for a tree team to climb and dismantle without a crane, although it not necessarily always more expensive to employ a crane for large removals, and the length of time to remove the tree would be halved meaning less inconvenience for you

[agg221]

Hello Olivia,

 

I should start by mentioning that I am not the expert here, and would defer to pretty much any of the people who have already commented on your question (and David may be able to comment on this immediately) but if the tree in the foreground in the photograph showing the house, or the one I think I can see to the left of shot are also yours then I would be inclined to have these looked at too.

 

If other trees in the area have recently been removed due to Meripilus then it suggests a common factor which the remaining trees may also have been exposed to. If it is spreading through root grafting then these are certainly within range. Although they are not showing fruiting bodies (yet) this does not necessarily mean they are not affected. Catching it early would give more options. A consultant should be able to pick up on the visible signs.

 

Even if unaffected, keeping the surviving trees healthy would be a good idea to reduce the risk of problems later. The one in the foreground in particular may well have a lot of compaction in the soil around it. There are quick ways to fix this using tools such as airspades, but unless it is urgent a much lower tech approach is to get the worms to do it. They love the glue in corrugated cardboard so if you spread a couple of layers on the ground around the tree, out as far as you can allowing for roads etc, then spread a bark or woodchip mulch on top, the worms will drag the cardboard down, breaking up the compaction and aerating the soil in the process.

 

Alec