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Bramley apple Tree condition

HKhanHKhan Posts: 20
in Problem solving
Could anyone please tell me if my apple tree has a disease and if it needs to be removed. I have inherited it and it appears quite old. Many Thanks 

Posts

  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    The fungi look like sulpher tuft HKhan and it grows on rotting wood helping to break it down. The trunk in your first picture doesn't look very healthy. 

    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Many old trees tend to get fungi. It doesn't necessarily mean they need to be taken down.
    The heartwood in an old tree is dead wood and if certain fungi can get to it, the heartwood starts to rot.
    If it's just a bit of rot, it's not a problem.
    After a long time (possibly over many decades) the rot will spread outwards toward the bark, and eventually the tree will become unstable.
    That when action is needed.

    Some professionals have equipment that can scan the heartwood to determine the extent of the rot. But such kit costs £000's

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    And if it's ok to leave it, a slowly decaying tree is a really important wildlife resource.  One of the reasons for the decrease in invertebrates is the human drive to 'tidy up'. 

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





  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    When we moved in to our home in 1978 we inherited a bramley. Didn't think much about it. It was there. Then we saw that the trunk on the side we could see was as expected but going around the outer side....it was hollow. This bramley has continued to produce fruit for us every year (no gaps) and yesterday baked apples on the menu.
    Amazing tree.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited October 2022
    I'm not so sure it is sulphur tuft, it looks like honey fungus (aka bootlace fungus) to me.  See how it develops.  I don't want to frighten you, but you had better read up on honey fungus and be prepared.



     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    It could be bede, a day or two will tell. 
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
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