Any old tree lovers here? Need advice on sick tree. :( (mushrooms, growing)

[RosemaryT]

My house is 86 years old and it has three enormous oak trees on three of its four corners that are 86 years old. Something is wrong with one of them.

There's something growing on it that looks weird and whatever this growth is, it has KILLED an enormous limb on the tree. This one limb represents about 25% of the tree's substance, and whatever it is has stripped the bark off the tree.

My OTHER tree now has a couple deep orange mushrooms growing in its crook (where the tree forks off). I suspect that mushrooms growing in a tree are bad.

Does anyone know what this might be? If this tree has to come down, it'll drastically change the look of the house. If it has to come down, it'll cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

I can't get an arborist out here until Tuesday. Any guesses what this might be?

Thanks in advance.

Rose






On the pics below, you can see the limb that's in trouble. It's obviously dead, but the bark looks like it's been stripped off. And it's a mess.

[ArkansasSlim]

I'm sorry Rose but I'm afraid your trees are on the way out I suspect they are hollow and have developed fungus and there is no cure. Your "tree person" may want to treat them, but I think it would be a wasted expense, IMO. I had one like that which was about the same age and about 50" diameter at the base. The limbs started dieing, so rather than the big expense of taking the whole tree down, I took off each limb as it died, then eventually had to take down the rest of the tree. That way I spread the expense out over a period of a few years rather than at one time. I really, really, hope I have misdiagnosed but I don't think so.

[lifelongMOgal]

There is another thread in this forum that may help you: //www.city-data.com/forum/misso...sing-bark.html

[Padgett2]

I'll agree with Slim. Unless they came up from an acorn, they are probably much older than you think they are. If the tree is near your house, it might not take much of a wind to drop the limb on your house.

Oaks ( and I am sure other trees) that have a crotch with two or more trunks branching out like this one, usually have a great deal of rot in that area.

I feel for you. There is nothing quite like a lovely tree to set the house apart. I would miss mine.

[lifelongMOgal]

Rosemary, the fungus is likely a symptom of something else going on with your tree. It will be important that the arborist is able to positively identify the disease in case you need to treat the remaining two visibly healthy ones to save them from a similar fate.

Good luck. I have maples with a disease that is spread through the roots and I am losing about 5-6 this year alone Sad part is the infection is in the soil and I may not be able to re-plant. My trees, like yours, are mature and a signature to my property.

[RosemaryT]

There are no words to describe what these trees mean to me, and this house, and the historic neighborhood where I live.

I'm told they were small trees, planted by William Barnes when he built this "Dream House" for his beloved wife in 1925.

He was a horticulturist and loved all things green. He thoughtfully planted one tree at each corner of the lot and the trees are now massive and we know they're at least 85 years old.

I can not imagine this house without these trees.

Here's a picture of the house, with a very old dogwood in the front yard.



Here's a picture of the THING growing in the crook of the second tree.

[B4U]

What a lovely house and nice setting. As others have mentioned, I believe they're correct.
Have your soil tested when you have a tree surgeon or aborist come out and look.
If you have to have them removed and the soil is good, start your own trees and place a date on/near them for the ages to see.
Good luck.

[Rtom45]

The fungi that you are seeing are not causing your tree to die. As stated earlier, they are symptons of other problems. In this case, I believe your tree(s) have reached the end of their useful life and are on their way out. Trees in an urban setting have a shorter life span than trees in a natural area due to stresses and unnatural conditions.

[southernnaturelover]

Those look like Water Oaks, which are not very long lived trees (for oaks). Those things are likely rotten to the core, or will be soon. I have several huge ones in the same condition, but luckily mine are way away from my house. Water Oak and Laurel Oak are both considered "trash trees" where I live, much like Silver Maple up north.

If you're in coastal VA, consider replacing them with Live Oak.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by RosemaryT

If this tree has to come down, it'll drastically change the look of the house. If it has to come down, it'll cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

We had a White Alder about 11-12 yrs ago that at the time was probably around 75 years old. It had the same problems you're describing and every tree person who looked at it said it probably needed to come out. It provided a lot of shade and we hated to think about removing it. Finally when we did some work on the deck, an arborist said that at some point during a strong rain or thunderstorm, the tree would probably break and fall on the roof since the trunk was hollowing out. We had it removed. He later told us that the tree had probably been hit...someone must have backed a boat or car into it years before (4 owners of this home before us), which caused trauma to the trunk. It cost around $1,100 to pull out, grind the stump, etc. They put in two fast-growing smaller trees, would have to look up the names of them. It was so bare for a couple of years that it was hard to look at, but w/in 3-4 yrs, both grew enough to provide the same amount of shade and are now enormous.