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Apologies for the newbie question.

I'm just wondering if it's good to remove fungi from trees to prevent damage? Or do they actually help trees and the environment?

Thanks for any replies

Hi 1984jay,

Without fungi we would be well over head height in plant matter that simply would not decompose without fungis help.

If a parasitic fungi is in the wild then I suggest it should be left, as this is simply nature taking its course. Unless of course it is edible!

If it is taking hold in your garden/on your property then an arborist may be the person to talk to regarding the best procedure.

Hope this helps.

Oink

[Edit - not quite sure I agree now, read down]

Agreed.

Just there're some lovely (old) trees around, just thought in that regard it would be better to prevent further rot occouring

Thanks

Even if you remove the mushroom (don't know how you call it exactly but you know what I mean), the fungus is still growing in the tree. A tree-expert will know what to do. My guess is the tree was already weak or else the fungus wouldn't have taken hold.

Roos

1984jay wrote:Agreed.

Just there're some lovely (old) trees around, just thought in that regard it would be better to prevent further rot occouring

Thanks

If something like honey fungus is already attacking some tree, old or not, then it is probably doomed anyway. Removing the fruiting bodies will not prevent the fungus from killing the tree. It will just reduce its reproductive chances this year.

You can't "cure" a tree of parasitic fungi.

littlemissrose wrote:My guess is the tree was already weak or else the fungus wouldn't have taken hold.

Roos

Yes.

Who's to say you can't "cure" a tree Geoff?

My views have quickly changed since previous posts I think. To everyone saying "The tree is doomed" I strongly disagree. If any of you know anything about trees it's that you can chop one down leaving even the smallest of tree stumps and it will still grow back..... ye of little faith.

Plants are amazing, and very robust. So to say there's "no cure" is ridiculous. No disrespect to anyone who's posted.

I think Geoff's comment about the tree being doomed was specific to the honey fungus (sorry if I've got that wrong, Geoff) - not all fungi are quite so aggressive. That said, whatever the species, just taking the fruiting body off the surface of the tree isn't going to make any difference, so if that's what you meant by 'removing' a parasitic fungus, then no, it's not worth it - that won't prevent further rot occurring. On the other hand, if you're talking about major tree surgery to cut out all of the fungus, then yes, that might save the tree. I'm not sure how feasible that is - as others have said, it would be worth talking to an arborist for advice on this.

Unless it's your own tree you are growing in your garden and you are desperate to keep it, then I'd just let nature take it's course. The death of this old tree, both the process and the final result itself, is beneficial to so many different organisms, and the death of an old tree usually also causes a break in the canopy which can allow some of the younger ones to shoot up and take advantage of the real sunlight at last. As strange as it might seem, we need naturally dying trees to keep the balance right and allow wild spaces to continue to develop.

So unless it was an invasive species, I wouldn't remove parasitic fungi or anything else. I'd take the opportunity to watch as nature does it's thing!

Interesting view Smilesbetter :)

Sounds about right..

Although for the purpose of education it's good to know these things. Interesting to think of it that way though.

Zech wrote:I think Geoff's comment about the tree being doomed was specific to the honey fungus (sorry if I've got that wrong, Geoff) - not all fungi are quite so aggressive. That said, whatever the species, just taking the fruiting body off the surface of the tree isn't going to make any difference, so if that's what you meant by 'removing' a parasitic fungus, then no, it's not worth it - that won't prevent further rot occurring. On the other hand, if you're talking about major tree surgery to cut out all of the fungus, then yes, that might save the tree. I'm not sure how feasible that is - as others have said, it would be worth talking to an arborist for advice on this.

Yes to all of that.

Honey Fungus is the archetypal parasitic tree fungus - it's the most (in)famous. But it is also unusual among parasites. Most parasites avoid, if they can, killing their host, because that isn't much of a long term strategy for themselves. Honey Fungus doesn't care. It's quite happy to kill the host and then go on feeding on its corpse. Eventually it runs out of food, but by then it has spread itself about so prolifically that this is a viable evolutionary strategy for this particular parasite.

Smilesbetter wrote:Unless it's your own tree you are growing in your garden and you are desperate to keep it, then I'd just let nature take it's course. The death of this old tree, both the process and the final result itself, is beneficial to so many different organisms, and the death of an old tree usually also causes a break in the canopy which can allow some of the younger ones to shoot up and take advantage of the real sunlight at last. As strange as it might seem, we need naturally dying trees to keep the balance right and allow wild spaces to continue to develop.

So unless it was an invasive species, I wouldn't remove parasitic fungi or anything else. I'd take the opportunity to watch as nature does it's thing!

Yes. People associate fungi with death, but this is backwards. Fungi are the agents of new life - they should be associated with rebirth, not death! Without them we'd be up to our necks in organic rubbish.