When I saw LeadFarmer's picture of the privet hedge, I thought it was a picture of my own garden.
Our first symptom was that an old cherry plum tree, laden with fruit, suddenly died during a dry spell. The next year the end of the privet hedge near the tree died. The next year an old damson tree died plus a bit more hedge. The next year more hedge went together with two viburnum bushes and a Solanum Glasnevin (Chilean potato). The honeysuckle looks sick. Always this has happened during a dry spell when the diseased roots have been unable to cope.
We are in despair. The only things that seem immune are the wretched Holm Oak and a big beech tree which the council will not let us remove even though it is far too near to the house.
Our only hope seems to be to put in some disease resistant plants and to make the best of it. Or we could move to a top floor apartment.....?
My commiserations, LondonColin. There are several species of Armillaria and some are far more damaging than others - sounds like you have a nasty. All I'll say is that there is something called Armillatox and if you use it to clean the moss from any paths or patios etc around the affected areas, any accidental overspill into the soil might have a surprising effect. Do think about the negative effects on wildlife and natural soil organisms before you slosh anything like this soap-based patio cleaner around though.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
I have just learned that an almost dead flowering cherry at the bottom of my garden, but actually in the garden below, has honey fungus. The owner blames me for poisoning her tree - not sure how I was meant to do that. It was a lovely tree until about 10 years ago - it must be 50 years old now. Am I likely to lose my fruit trees and bushes backing on to the tree? I have apples, plums, redcurrants, blckcurrants, loganberries and gooseberries. My mint has died just near to the tree.
If you have the tree (including roots) removed, this may help. Honey Fungus requires a home/base of dead wood to grow from. If this 'home' is rotten wood within your old cherry tree, complete removal of the tree and roots followed by cultivation of the soil in the area might well rid you of the problem. If the infected roots aren't removed as well as the tree, it could remain a problem for many years. You might find this fact sheet (pdf) useful:
The fact sheet is interesting. Thank you. I did say the infected tree is NOT in my garden, but in the hedge bordering my garden with one at the back. The owner refuses to have the tree removed despite being advised by an environmental expert. She just blames me for its demise. Awkward neighbour situation to sort out! I did have all the overhanging dead branches removed last year with her consent even though I was within my rights to remove overhanging branches anyway.
Sorry, I mis-read and missed the bit about it not being in your garden. Annoying as there's a lot less you can do about it if your neighbour is just going to let things (literally) rot! One thing which might help is to keep the soil cultivated next to the hedge, effectively creating a barrier between the tree and your garden. Digging will break any rhizomorphs which radiate out from the tree and try to cross the strip. The rhizomorphs can't live when disconnected from the main fungal body. From the pdf you can see that sandy soil inhibits rhizomorph growth whereas peaty soil promotes it so if you dig plenty of sharp sand into the strip it will do two things: keep it easy to regularly dig-over and also help to restrict the spread of the tendrils. You can probably find annuals which can thrive in the sandy soil of such a protective strip. Good luck and I hope you don't lose your fruit trees and bushes.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Help!!!!!! I have just found this thread as i have been researching Honey Fungus. My old pink chestnut tree has it all round the base and its growing out of the bark in places and on the surrounding lawn. I have emailed my tree surgeon to come and have a look. Does any one know how to identify the killer strain? The only dying plant nearby is a Fatisa Japonica, are they suseptable?
Should I remove all of the fungus or will that make matters worse? Worried as it might spread to my surrounding trees.
you can't remove all the fungus gina, only the fruiting bodies. That will make no difference at all. Most woody plants are susceptible to some extent, some more than others. The business end of the fungus works through the roots of trees and shrubs. The fruiting bodies in the lawn will be growing from a root.
Hello gina, I think the key to your problem may be in the word "old" that you used to describe your chestnut tree.
Our garden is riddled with honey fungus but I've found that the plants that fall victim to it are generally old or in some way weakened. Also, I've found that by avoiding deep cultivation of the soil around shrubs I lessen the chances of scratching the host plants' roots and the fungus getting a foothold in the hosts' root systems.
Plants that die are best removed as completely as possible. I then sometimes plant a new plant in the same site but first put it in a bottomless bucket filled with compost. This gives the new plant a chance to put its roots down first into clean compost and later more deeply into the soil below the level of the bootlaces.
Just a theory I have. I don't know if other people have tried that.
Posts
Crikey, if the price of electricity goes up much more, I'll keep that in mind.
When I saw LeadFarmer's picture of the privet hedge, I thought it was a picture of my own garden.
Our first symptom was that an old cherry plum tree, laden with fruit, suddenly died during a dry spell. The next year the end of the privet hedge near the tree died. The next year an old damson tree died plus a bit more hedge. The next year more hedge went together with two viburnum bushes and a Solanum Glasnevin (Chilean potato). The honeysuckle looks sick. Always this has happened during a dry spell when the diseased roots have been unable to cope.
We are in despair. The only things that seem immune are the wretched Holm Oak and a big beech tree which the council will not let us remove even though it is far too near to the house.
Our only hope seems to be to put in some disease resistant plants and to make the best of it. Or we could move to a top floor apartment.....?
My commiserations, LondonColin. There are several species of Armillaria and some are far more damaging than others - sounds like you have a nasty. All I'll say is that there is something called Armillatox and if you use it to clean the moss from any paths or patios etc around the affected areas, any accidental overspill into the soil might have a surprising effect. Do think about the negative effects on wildlife and natural soil organisms before you slosh anything like this soap-based patio cleaner around though.
I have just learned that an almost dead flowering cherry at the bottom of my garden, but actually in the garden below, has honey fungus. The owner blames me for poisoning her tree - not sure how I was meant to do that. It was a lovely tree until about 10 years ago - it must be 50 years old now. Am I likely to lose my fruit trees and bushes backing on to the tree? I have apples, plums, redcurrants, blckcurrants, loganberries and gooseberries. My mint has died just near to the tree.
If you have the tree (including roots) removed, this may help. Honey Fungus requires a home/base of dead wood to grow from. If this 'home' is rotten wood within your old cherry tree, complete removal of the tree and roots followed by cultivation of the soil in the area might well rid you of the problem. If the infected roots aren't removed as well as the tree, it could remain a problem for many years. You might find this fact sheet (pdf) useful:
http://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=4797&p=0
The fact sheet is interesting. Thank you. I did say the infected tree is NOT in my garden, but in the hedge bordering my garden with one at the back. The owner refuses to have the tree removed despite being advised by an environmental expert. She just blames me for its demise. Awkward neighbour situation to sort out! I did have all the overhanging dead branches removed last year with her consent even though I was within my rights to remove overhanging branches anyway.
Sorry, I mis-read and missed the bit about it not being in your garden. Annoying as there's a lot less you can do about it if your neighbour is just going to let things (literally) rot! One thing which might help is to keep the soil cultivated next to the hedge, effectively creating a barrier between the tree and your garden. Digging will break any rhizomorphs which radiate out from the tree and try to cross the strip. The rhizomorphs can't live when disconnected from the main fungal body. From the pdf you can see that sandy soil inhibits rhizomorph growth whereas peaty soil promotes it so if you dig plenty of sharp sand into the strip it will do two things: keep it easy to regularly dig-over and also help to restrict the spread of the tendrils. You can probably find annuals which can thrive in the sandy soil of such a protective strip. Good luck and I hope you don't lose your fruit trees and bushes.
Help!!!!!! I have just found this thread as i have been researching Honey Fungus. My old pink chestnut tree has it all round the base and its growing out of the bark in places and on the surrounding lawn. I have emailed my tree surgeon to come and have a look. Does any one know how to identify the killer strain? The only dying plant nearby is a Fatisa Japonica, are they suseptable?
Should I remove all of the fungus or will that make matters worse? Worried as it might spread to my surrounding trees.
you can't remove all the fungus gina, only the fruiting bodies. That will make no difference at all. Most woody plants are susceptible to some extent, some more than others. The business end of the fungus works through the roots of trees and shrubs. The fruiting bodies in the lawn will be growing from a root.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Hello gina, I think the key to your problem may be in the word "old" that you used to describe your chestnut tree.
Our garden is riddled with honey fungus but I've found that the plants that fall victim to it are generally old or in some way weakened. Also, I've found that by avoiding deep cultivation of the soil around shrubs I lessen the chances of scratching the host plants' roots and the fungus getting a foothold in the hosts' root systems.
Plants that die are best removed as completely as possible. I then sometimes plant a new plant in the same site but first put it in a bottomless bucket filled with compost. This gives the new plant a chance to put its roots down first into clean compost and later more deeply into the soil below the level of the bootlaces.
Just a theory I have. I don't know if other people have tried that.