Hi,
I moved into a house with a decent sized garden a couple of months ago and
have been trying to get the garden in shape - it was (and still is) rather
overgrown. I've never tried gardening before and am beginning to like it. I
have a bunch of Ash trees at the back of the garden and when clearing them
of ivy, I noticed one of the trees had a fungus like (or maybe its a
mushroom ?) growth on the bark. I have uploaded a picture of this at
www.pgnet.plus.com/gardening/Fungus1.jpg . Could some one please tell me
what this is, and whether it is likely to spread to all the other trees. And
what do I do about it ?

After reading some posts in this news group, I also cut the ivy from the
base of the trees, so there is no where for the ivy to touch the ground. I
assume the ivy will die eventually - how do I get it off the tree ? the ivy
has grown up most of the trees to a significant height. Will it just fall
off once dead ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Prakash.