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Fungus on oak tree

[Glen][Glen] Posts: 76
in Wildlife gardening
This is my oak. As you can see there is something on its root that should not be there! Is it terminal? What is the prognosis please? :(

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  • [Glen][Glen] Posts: 76
    edited September 2022
    It takes decades to grow a tree! Is now the time to think about planting a replacement?
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    You could add a replacement nearby, but I wouldn't consider removing a tree of that age!  Ancient oaks very often have the whole of the heartwood rotted away, but still survive, and the rotting wood supports many, many forms of wildlife.  As steephill says, it'll probably be 20 or 30 years before it does any harm. :)
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • [Glen][Glen] Posts: 76
    Humn. 20 years is not very long to grow a new tree to take over the role of this one.

    The pictured root is actually touching a road where occasionally a clumsy driver will injure the tree, so the oak is not in a location where it can be left to slowly fall.

    Maybe I should have one transplanted. As the roots will be all over the place, how close can a new one be placed please?
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    When I said many decades I meant probably not in your lifetime so I wouldn't worry about it. For peace of mind you could get an arborist to inspect the tree but that won't be a cheap option.
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    It's hard to get a sense of scale on your picture, but that oak is at least 300 hundred up to 500 years old, The fungus won't do it much harm in our lifetimes. as bob says even being hollow is not a death sentence for such a tree

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