Is my beech tree doomed?

This growth started on my beech tree about a month ago. This tree originally had an oak growing right next to it which was cut down nine years ago. The next picture shows the side of the tree where the oak was removed. I have read that this type of fungus only grows on decaying wood, and wonder if the tree can survive or if it will have to come down.

Here is the other side of the tree. A local tree trimmer that I trust says the tree is sound and that I should not worry. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

One more a little closer:

Sofi:

You wrote above:

My first question: is the "trusted" person a certified arborist, or one who can just start a chainsaw and then take your money? Sorry for the brutality, but that poor beech tree has so many wounds on it (to be still standing), and is in serious decomposition based on the fungi photo. American beech (Fagus grandifolia) are notorious for slowly closing wounds; your tree illustrates that perfectly.

If your second and third pictures show the side of the tree where the oak formerly was (nine years ago), then there was either some serious rubbing going on between the two trees or there was extensive damage done to the beech while the oak was being removed. Or has there been a lot of damage to the beech since then that you haven't noted? If the damage was there when the oak was removed (nine years ago), then that makes my point on how slow beech trees are to close wounds. Small wonder that there is a bit of fungus working on it.

Your tree trimmer may only be protecting you against shock, but I don't think that your beech tree rates as "sound" in any sense of the word. The only positive I can say is that it doesn't look as if it would hit anything were it to suddenly fall.

Take a picture of the whole tree, so that the entire canopy is shown.

The house in the background (and the surrounding yard) look relatively new. How old is it? Was this originally a wooded lot before the home was built? Was there extensive regrading of the soil surface? Have there been previous losses of existing trees?

This is one of those situations (if answers to the above questions are mostly yes) where it may be too late to be much help, except as an example for others heading down similar paths.

LOL to look at that tree and say it was sound is rather funny. I can't go on about the reasons like SP but I will say I have several beeches on my property that have that kind of wound and they have been standing that way for many years....proof of the slow wound thing I guess. One of ours was caused by a fire (24 years ago) and is still standing.

Sofi,

Looking at the cavity left from having the Oak growing right next to the tree, I'd say that the tree is only completely safe if there is nothing with value within its fall radius. The fact that the oak was taken down only adds to the possibility since plants lignify more (produce strenghtening wood) where physical stress is encountered. This is to say, that the tree produces strenghtening wood in response to a consistenantly westerly wind or similar physical occurances. When 2 trees grow in close proximity to one another, they buffer each other from stresses and they lignify accordingly. Remove one, and the other is opened up to stresses that it hasn't prepared for. All of that said, if the tree has survived for nine years, it has been reprioritizing its strengthening responses. The question becomes, will it have time to completely prepare for the "perfect storm" that may happen?

One other factor to consider is the healing response. As Vv notes, it has been slow to cover. This is in part, probably because of the stress of having a yard put under it and having to readjust to new conditions. The other half of the slow response is due to the fact that some trees heal more slowly than others. I think Ed Gilman's site explains this very well but I will attempt Cliff's Notes. There are 3 major healing responses induced when an injury occurs in a woody plant. One stops fungal, bacterial, etc. attacks from moving around the circumference of the trunk, one stops it from penetrating to the center of the trunk and the third stops it from moving up and down in the center of the trunk. Some trees are fast at method #1 and heal over the wound rapidly. This is fine for keeping new attacks out. The real problem occurs in areas 2 and 3. Once the bad stuff is in the trunk, if it isn't stopped, it will cause decay throughout the entire trunk, creating a big, hollow cylinder. Cylinders are strong unless they have a hole or a weak spot, like where a missing limb was. Silver maple is good at #1 but not at the others. So it appears that it has healed but hasn't really stopped the problem from occuring inside. Thus they tend to break up and die early giving them a bad reputation. Oaks on the other hand, heal outside more slowly than some other plants but do a better job inside, isolating the internal damge to a smaller area and preventing the "cylinder effect." Your beech may be similar. I just don't know the specifics for the species. That said, there is an awful lot of damage fromt the base of the trunk up. This is not good and why I suggest that it is unsafe. The way that I see it is that you have two choices.

1) leave the tree and put nothing of value under it and enjoy it for what it is for.

2) cut it down now and replant a tree now so that it can be enjoyed in a few years.

Either way, you don't lose.

Regards,
Ernie

VV thank you for your reply. I do appreciate your frankness.

I was not clear in my original post, but the oak tree used to be so close to the beech that they almost looked fused together.

I had the tree trimmer here last month to take away a broken limb from another tree. I guess if he were greedy he would have suggested that the beech come down right there and then. He told me that the tree could live for many years the way it was. We did, however, measure and if the tree were to fall down tomorrow it would not reach the house.

The neighborhood is about twenty years old and was originally forest, mostly oaks, beeches, and hornbeams with some native holly too. Our particular lot is one of the few where the trees were not all cut down, and the back yard where the beech is located was never graded. We have not lost any trees in the ten years we have been here. Yet.

This last picture shows the whole tree. (By the way, that is a bird feeder suspended on the right.)

Levilyla I hope your beeches stand for many more years in spite of their wounds.

Thank you both for responding. I feel guilty for being neglectful of a tree that needed attention.
In your opinion should the tree be taken down or left to die a slow death?

Ernie, my last post crossed with yours. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain a tree's response to stress and disease. I hope all the information in this thread will be of value to someone else who may be ignoring a tree's problem.

Since it woudnt hit my house, or my neighbor's for that matter, I wonder if I should let it stand.
If I call an arborist tomorrow might there be something that could be done to prolong its life?

Thanks again everyone for sharing your knowledge and opinions.

Louise

Does the rotting still continue even if a wound has completely closed?

I think Ernie already answered my question.

Now I feel sorry for it...I would let it just stay there until a storm makes the decission for you. All trees can't be perfect and beautiful...just like people.

Sofi/Louise:

Thank you for accepting the critique above in the spirit intended. I still believe "...live for many years..." is different in meaning to "sound." I am glad that your tree person is honest. It is good that you don't have anything to be damaged were the beech to suddenly fail.

Ernie/malusman has more than adequately described the wound closure processes employed by trees. He has also indicated the stresses imposed and a tree's response to them. Since your tree was formerly (somewhat) supported by the former oak, then it hadn't had to completely support itself. But with nine years under its bark being exposed to winds, etc., it has probably built up some supportive strength. It's those open wounds that are the devil.

The beech seems to have a decent crown of branches, relatively speaking. There isn't anything in particular that you can do to change the rate of wound closure on this tree, but you can make its life better by improving its cultural conditions. No, not by taking it to the opera or the art museum.

You could expand the mulched (or at least non-turf) area around the trunk and roots. If you can stand it, eliminate the turf about six to ten feet out in a radius around the tree so that it doesn't have to compete with all those little grass plants for all the nutrients and moisture. If you can't abide that much bare ground, consider installing the kinds of underplantings that one might find in a beech woods. This would be quite a change to what you have had for ten years in your backyard; approach the change slowly and consider design assistance so that you are pleased with the results and only incur the disturbance once.

I wouldn't just remove the beech. At least you care about it. Let it live out its life, however long it may be, with your company.

What is the risk of it hitting something/someone if/when it falls down?

I'd say it is a fairly high (but not very high) risk tree, liable to come down in a storm sooner or later. If it is close enough to where anyone is likely to be hit, then remove it. If it is well away from buildings and paths or roads, then you could keep it. It isn't likely to fall in ordinary 'everyday' weather, but stay well away from it during stormy weather.

Resin

Resin, the only thing at risk is the post and rail fence, which is easy to repair. The tree has survived two very strong wind storms this fall and I hope it can continue to do so.

VV I was so excited to read your suggestion about removing the turf around the tree. This subject has been a real source of squabbles in my house. A large part of our yard is "au natural" and has the same leaf/pine needle cover as the woods. I argue every year that this area needs to be extended at the expense of the sickly lawn we try to grow there. Now I have a very good reason to get my way.

...at your service.

Is the tree old enough to produce seed? If it is, you could start a new one to grow near it so you won't be empty handed when the day comes.

Great idea, escambiaguy...... I wonder if the squirrels have left any seeds for me. Maybe I will get lucky and find one already started.