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Trees - Anyone know about?

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Smurf1976

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14 February 2005
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I have a rather large gum tree (about 25 metres high) at the front of the house. 3 of them actually.

Unfortunately one of them, the one in the middle, is growing "mushrooms". Based on my internet research I think they could be a root rotting fungus which will completely destroy the tree.

If that's the case then I will get the tree felled ASAP. It would completely flatten the house if it fell. But the trees are something of a local landmark - visible on the skyline up to 10km away and featured in the Mercury (main newspaper here in Hobart) with their christmas lights on twice in the past 3 years. They are also home to numerous possums and birds. So I don't want to chop them down if it's not really necessary. If it is a bad fungus then presumably it will have spread to both of the other trees as well.

Anyone know anything about this?
 

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Another photo.
 

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Smurf,

Maybe a professional tree surgeon might know. (But be careful he doesn't want to take it down for the sake of work)
 
Hi Smurf,
Have you tried the Australian Museum site www.austmus.gov.au they have researchers who can ID stuff (fauna and flora) I think it's a public service.
 
Thanks for the museum site. I'll take a look. I'm a bit concerned that if I ask a professional tree feller then they will just insist that it's dangerous and has to come down for the sake of work. There are always quite a few advertising in the papers so obviously they're needing more work. Hence I want to know the facts first.

And for why I don't want to remove it, see this photo. It's a fairly early photo, not many lights then (well, still a few thousand) but it's the tree in the middle with the radio station advertising on it. (Photo is a bit misleading - tree is straight not leaning).
 

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Hi Smurf,

I have no qualifications at all but my opinion is that they are simply a form of fungi that likes sheltered areas, we have them growing around our place in NSW.

As we live on an small acreage there are quite a few trees of different sorts and the toadstools (as we call them) do seem to favour being near the bases of the trees.

We just pull them out and put them in the garbage, not the compost bin

You could try an arborist, but I would also try a nurseryman or the National Parks and Wildlife.

Another thought, as the newspaper has knowledge of the trees, maybe they have a garden section and you could contact the person who writes it and they could do a feature on the problem. They would know the right person to talk to, if you have the problem then others in the area could also have the same problem.

Journos are quite often desperate for article subjects that are different to the run of the mill "time to trim the roses"

Good luck, aren't old trees majestic
 
Your Botanic gardens will help simply email the photos.

Removing the trees maybe harder than you think.
Most trees over 1m in diameter are classified significant trees and as such cannot be removed without local government approval.
As a local landmark you'll have tents pitched on your lawn from all the greenies.
So if around Xmas just attach live lines to them scattered throughout the tree.Distribute free light bulbs to every protester.

Please post the pictures here.
 


Very mischievous Tech, but I have a feeling that sizzling greenies at x'mas would fail to meet council approval as well....

Smurf, Also try emailing one of the TV gardening shows (ABC Gardening Australia, might even have web forums...).
 
Hi Smurf,

Beautiful tree. I go along with Macca's comments. We had similar trees in NZ which has climate like Tassie and clusters of these mushrooms were common especially in Autumn. I would think it very unlikely that they will have any adverse effect on the tree. Ours didn't and they appeared year after year.

I'm a passionate gardener and when I've had problems I've found the DPI (Department of Primary Industries) really helpful. They know a lot about most things. If you sent them the pictures then my bet is they would reassure you there is nothing to worry about.

Julia
 
Bit of reality check.

No tree should grow closer to the house than 1.5 to 2.5 of its mature height and this is only due to tree roots affecting the house structure.

Also high wind often comes all of the sudden and even perfectly healthy tree will snap, fall, be uprooted or all of the above.

Any tree lover who cannot part with valuable possession should stop for a while and think about number 1
The easiest option would be sell the property and leave worries and decision making to somebody else.

It sounds heartless, but self-preservation should be on the highest spot in anybody’s agenda, after all this is instinct we all should have and it is part of species preservation.

An alternative could be to strengthen up the house and make at least crash proof some of the rooms, but usually price and appearance of the monstrosity would be prohibitive.

If you are determined to soldier on, have good insurance including life insurance, one day might be handy.
 
I was a professional tree faller for more than fifteen years ,both in hardwood and in pine...those type of fungi are ubiquitous in and around old tree stumps....whether they do any damage is unlikely.I have had few around the large red gums at a house that I still own in the Adelaide Hills...I am taking the week off next week to go back there to retrim the gums...each say ten years I have them trimmed or do it myself,so that any branch that has any chance of hitting the house is removed...one tree that had a questionable lean toward the house I removed completely....without any council permission,if I was pulled up over it I would have argued from the danger angle.In the pretrimming process with long ladder and rope I put a branch thru my bathroom....the neighbours were all watching...some professional?No insurance payout there!
As the previous advice says ...gum trees are very dangerous...like a time bomb and need to be watched.
 

The “Socratia Exorhiza” palm is unique because it moves from one place to another until it reaches more sunny places.
And the way of its movement is that new roots grow in the foreground, and the old ones die and are displaced from their place
The distance covered in a year may be 20 metres.
It is found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
 
Unfortunately not true.

Can 'Walking Palm Trees' Really Walk?

Does the walking palm tree really use its mini-trunks to take steps toward sunlight, or is this a myth created to fool tourists?
www.livescience.com

I was all excited about walking trees.
 
Giant Dendrosenecio Groundsels. They are half cactus, half pineapple, living on the 5,895 m high Mount Kilimanjaro in northeastern Tanzania.

 

The large fig tree is found Curtain Fig National Park, just outside Yungaburra, on the Atherton Tableland, Queensland. It is unique because the extensive aerial roots, that drop 15m to the forest floor, have formed a ‘curtain’. Starting from a seed dropped high in the canopy, this strangler fig grew vertical roots, which gradually became thicker and interwoven. Over hundreds of years these roots have strangled the host causing it to fall into a neighbouring tree—a stage unique to the development of this fig. Vertical fig roots then formed a curtain-like appearance and the host trees rotted away, leaving the freestanding fig tree. The tree is thought to be nearly 50m tall, with a trunk circumference of 39m, and is estimated to be over 500 years old.
 
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