Terry L. Ettinger Horticulture Consulting Services
Meeting The Needs Of Today With A Vision For The Future
Special Topics
Your Tree May Be in Trouble If . . .
Unusual "Growths" Appear
Spores of wood-decay fungi germinate and grow into a tree’s
vascular system or wood through wounds created when branches are pruned
incorrectly or break during severe weather.
The appearance of odd-shaped “growths” at the base of your tree, along its trunk, at right, or on its branches are the "fruiting bodies" of these fungi and indicate that they are well-established, and may have caused large areas of decay inside of the tree.
Unfortunately, by the time these growths appear,
left, the decay is often so widespread that large portions of affected trees must
be removed - or the entire tree may need to be taken down.
Just remember that these fruiting bodies are different than the
various gray, green, fuzzy and/or smooth "lichens" that are found on
the trunks and branches of almost all trees and large shrubs.
Lichens, below, do not harm the plants on which they're growing
and, therefore, are no cause for concern.