Fungi problems
Jefferey Nevil
Posts: 8
Hello everyone,
I am new here so just thought I would say hello! 
I can't seem to find any specific threads on a fungi problem I am having with my tree. The symptoms suggest a dreaded honey fungus. The tree seems to have been dying with branches falling off very slowly, and it did seem to get very pale colourings quite early on at the end of summer. With closer inspection I have seen some horrible looking mushrooms. Everything on the websites I have checked suggest so, (http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=180) and (http://www.davefordtreecare.co.uk/the-laws-of-arboriculture-tree-legislation)
Does this sound like honey fungi? If so does anybody know the point at which there is no turning back? As it seems it is pretty uncurable from what these websites are saying.
If not what could it be?
Suggestions very warmly welcomed!
Jeff
Posts
The confirmation you need would be to find the bootlace threads in the soil around the tree and fungus. There are a lot of fungus which attack dead and dying trees (all quite natural too) and there are lots of fungus which attack and kill lving trees.
A picture of the tree and fungus would help too, if possible.
Thank you Berghill, what would the differences be that I should look for? I'll see if I can locate a camera to upload a picture from too.
Thanks again,
Jeff
Hi Jeff
We have honey fungus in our garden. If your fungus look like the ones in the advice website link you posted (or are even more yellow / orange), AND if they have that telltale fringe around the stem, AND if they are growing in clusters....well, yes, that's probably the culprit.
Don't despair, though. I got frantic when I discovered it in our (new) garden. And yes, it is pretty much incurable; there is a product called Armillotox which you can buy which can help prevent it a bit, but I'm not sure how effective it really is. BUT....first of all, there are different forms of it, and some are more virulent than others; in our garden it is everywhere, but most trees and shrubs are surviving it. Our viburnum really hate it and tend to die (I've reached the conclusion after five years that I need to give up on them) but others seem to soldier on. Take a view on your tree - is it dying quickly and getting ugly? In which case, time to make an end of it (and do the very best you can to dig out the stump and as much dead wood as possible). Otherwise, I'd say just tidy it up and let it go its own way. Maybe treat with Armillotox if you want to feel you are doing something....!
Do you have space to plant a new tree, that can establish itself in time to replace your old one as a focal point in the garden for when the old one eventually dies? The RHS website has some advice on species that are more or less resistant to honey fungus (eg don't even think about viburnum!) - choose one of those, don't plant it too close, and think of it as an opportunity to create something new!
Others on this site will know more than me, but hope this is helpful from someone who's suffered! Good luck with it.
Rosie
Armillotox is only registered as a e.g. patio cleaning solution now. As far as I can work out it was never that effective in getting rid of Armillaria.
Armillaria is a genus of fungi which ids generically referred to as 'honey fungus'. From what I've found out there are about six species in the UK. Two of the species are plant pathiogens. the others are a lesser problem (or no problem in the species that only infect dead wood).
Here's a link to an article written by Monty Don - almost a decade ago. It is 'gardenersworld', afterall.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2004/jan/25/gardens
Thank you Rosie that's really helpful, sorry you have had to suffer from it too! The tree is getting pretty ugly, and the fungus is as you describe so maybe it is time to let go.
Sorry Berghill I wasn't able to get a picture but it does match Rosie's description, and thank you Roy that link is very interesting, I am a bit wary of using Armillotox anyway, but I have heard that it works in this case so...
I have looked at RHS about planting a new tree and spoken to someone from Dave Ford Tree Care (its local and they had great stuff on their website for it) just to be safe as I am not confident enough with my own judgement. They are going to come over to do an assessment and perhaps even assist with removing the tree if necessary. We will be replacing it if this happens, but hopefully it can be saved!
Thank you all for your help and advice though everyone!
Hope you have a successful outcome. Losing a tree is not nice, but it does give the opportunity to try something different in its place.
PS The other downside of Armillotox is that I think it really, really stinks!
Let us know how you get on, Jefferey.
Rosie