Fungus on lilac tree bark?

Posts

• clarke.brunt Posts: 215

  March 2021 edited March 2021

  It looks like that's a piece a dead wood? It's being decayed by fungi, as happens to dead wood.  The smaller twigs in the photo look like living lilac. Trying to get my head round what's going on in the photo - first thought it was no longer attached to anything, but now thinking that the 'fence' thing has a hole to accomodate this branch. Still, it's dead. You can find where it attaches to parts of the lilac that are still alive and cut it off, or just leave it alone - I doubt the fungus would be interested in living wood.

  
  

  I've got a bracket fungus growing on a dead stem of my Forsythia which I'm leaving alone, and observing with interest - other stems are still alive. From reading others' opinion on here, I suspect there are those who would be delighted for a fungus to attack their Forsythia!
  

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• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  March 2021 edited March 2021

  @ywilsonjrichards welcome to the forum 😊 
  
  I’m afraid to say I think that tree is dead ... that amount of fungus is the result of the trunk being full of rotten wood. 😢 
  
   I would cut it down, dig out the roots, replenish the soil and choose something else to plant there ... Perhaps a bit further away from the fence? 😉 

  
  

  Remember the gardener’s motto ...  every dead plant is a planting opportunity 😊 

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• ywilsonjrichards Posts: 4

  March 2021

  Many thanks for your quick responses.  (Sorry about the sideways orientation of the photo!). I’m now planning to cut the branch right back and hope the tree can revitalise from the shots behind the fence.

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• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  March 2021

  When you cut through the branch you could show us some photos of the cut surface ... some of the folks here, more clever than I am, will be able to tell you how far the rot has penetrated into the tree and if there’s any hope for it. 😊 

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• clarke.brunt Posts: 215

  March 2021

  I was wondering what the cut surface would look like too, if you saw through it. I reckon that main bit in the photo is going to be like a piece of old firewood throughout - dry, dark coloured, maybe harder on the saw. Somewhere lower down, a cut through might show some white, maybe moist, living bits. Also, once it comes into proper growth, anything growing leaves higher up is alive, anything with no leaves above that point is dead. But I don't think it's important to remove all the dead stuff, apart from for aesthetic reasons. Dead wood on living trees just happens, without being a danger to the rest of the tree. What's going on behind the fence - more lilac, even the main part of the lilac?
  

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• BobTheGardener Posts: 11,385

  March 2021

  The actual cause was the custom-cut hole in the fence, which wasn't made large enough to accommodate growth, resulting in the branch strangling itself:

  
  

  A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  

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• ywilsonjrichards Posts: 4

  March 2021

  The fence was built about 8 years ago.  I think you are right that we didn’t take into account growth over the years.   Such a pity!   We’re planning to arrange to get it cut down.  We’re hoping that the lilac growth behind the fence in a ‘dead’ corner behind the fence may recover with some encouragement,  Will post picture of chopped branch when we’ve cut it back but may be a few weeks.  Once more many thanks for suggestions.  We certainly have a lot to learn!  

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• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  March 2021

  Good gardeners never stop learning @ywilsonjrichards

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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