Dead beech tree in beech hedge, pest?

Ruth Macleod

When we were trimming the beech hedge in our garden this year we found a few dead branches that just snapped off, initially not alarmed, I then followed the dead branches and realised that actually it was one whole bush/tree/plant (what do you call the individual plants in a hedge?) that was dead. It has a whiteish pink fungus all over it. I separated these branches from the rest, thinking I wouldn't shred them, I would burn them, but then thought perhaps we should try to find out what it is. I have just gone outside to get a couple of the branches to photograph, and there is now a lot less of the stuff on the branches I separated, some of them have no visible signs left at all. They have been lying on the lawn for 7 days. Does anyone know what this is?

 

 

Dovefromabove

Can you show us a cross-section of the trunk please - I think that's more important than what's on the outside of the tree/bush, which may have happened after it died. 

Ruth Macleod

 

 Hope these are of some use to you, thank you for taking the time to help me.

Dovefromabove

Hmmmm - definintely dead  and by zooming in on the top pic I can see that the bit where the tree grows - the outer layer beneath the bark - looks quite wrong, and the bark has all died and is peeling off.  

However, I'm a country girl and a gardener, but not a tree expert - there are some very knowledgeable people on here who may well be able to decipher the clues we've got.

Come on chaps and chap-esses!  Someone else's turn! 

nutcutlet

My guess is that the fungus grew on the dead branches rather than killed the plant

Dovefromabove

I agree nut, that was my thought - so can we find out why this one died so the rest don't go the same way

nutcutlet

When lumps of my privet died it was down to mice/voles chewing the bark off in a hard winter