Bob,
Thanks. I looked up Exidia Glandulosa today. Unlike glandulosa, the fungus
one my tree has one large black fruiting body - approx 3-4 cm across. There
are a few of them (maybe 6-7) on different sides of the trunk. Is there a
variety of glandulosa that has single fuiting bodies ?

Re the dead trunk, did you mean I should leave the bits I cut down somewhere
in the garden for the wildlife (I have a corner where I could just stack
them), or were you referring to the stump ? In either case, one of the ads
in the local newspaper last week talked of something called a 'Honey fungus'
that apparently attacks trees and shrubs and starts mainly from stumps left
in the ground or dead wood in the garden. They were trying to sell stump
removal and grinding and garden clearance services, so I'm not sure how much
of that was hype, and how much a real probability of it happening.

Does 'Honey fungus' exist in the UK, and how serious a threat is it in your
view ?

cheers,
Prakash.



"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Prakash" wrote
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 ?

Looks a bit like Witches Butter (Exidia glandulosa) and from the photo it
also looks as if the trunk it's growing on is dead and therefore needs to
be
cut out.
If you want to help wildlife, when you have removed the dead bit, leave it
on the ground to rot away.


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 ?

If the roots aren't in the ground it will die and eventually it will
simply
fall off the trees, may take a year or two for all the clinging bit to
come
loose.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London