{"id":205201,"date":"2025-06-22T13:29:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T13:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/205201\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T13:29:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T13:29:14","slug":"im-a-gardening-expert-if-you-see-three-key-warning-signs-you-should-call-a-tree-surgeon-immediately","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/205201\/","title":{"rendered":"I&#8217;m a gardening expert&#8230; if you see THREE key warning signs you should call a tree surgeon immediately"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Do YOU have a story? Email: jordana.seal@mailonline.co.uk\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-3556\/jordana-seal.html\" class=\"author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JORDANA SEAL<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Published:  06:06 EDT, 22 June 2025   |  Updated:  06:12 EDT, 22 June 2025   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">A horticulturist has warned Brits to look out for signs of a deadly yellow fungus that can cause trees to collapse suddenly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Japanese knotweed and bamboo infestations may keep homeowners up at night but there is a less known garden scurge that can be just as destructive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Honey fungus grows at the base of trees and can &#8216;wreak havoc&#8217; in gardens and destroy property if not spotted soon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It has been described as the\u00a0&#8216;most destructive fungal disease in the UK&#8217; and\u00a0spreads rapidly underground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The fungus can attack roots up to 30metres away, infecting and killing them before causing the dead wood to decay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Guy Barter, chief horticulturist at the Royal Horticulture Society (RHS), told MailOnline: &#8216;Early warning signs include honey-coloured toadstools in autumn hence the name.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-aa4eec97f64de66e\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/99400033-14806581-Lauren_Gordon_s_dog_pictured_almost_died_after_a_tree_randomly_c-m-4_1750328871868.jpeg\" height=\"505\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Lauren Gordon's dog (pictured) almost died after a tree randomly collapsed in the garden\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Lauren Gordon&#8217;s dog (pictured) almost died after a tree randomly collapsed in the garden<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-413ad2fed49ecc82\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/99400039-14806581-image-a-26_1750018371058.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The tree, which is a TPO, had become infected by a deadly mould known as honey fungus\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The tree, which is a TPO, had become infected by a deadly mould known as honey fungus<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-d3732ec05a5d671b\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/99528443-14806581-image-a-5_1750328881815.jpg\" height=\"453\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Honey fungus grows at the base of trees and can 'wreak havoc' in gardens and destroy property if not spotted soon\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Honey fungus grows at the base of trees and can &#8216;wreak havoc&#8217; in gardens and destroy property if not spotted soon<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;The infection is gradual typically with part of the tree dying first, followed by the rest of plant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;In summer affected plants succumb quite quickly over a week or two.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The only way to remove honey fungus is by burning the infected root or taking it to a landfill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Key symptoms of the fungus are cracking bark, an absence of flowers and more specifically, small mushrooms growing around the base of a tree.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The honey-coloured mushrooms grow in clumps and can also pop up around your garden if the rhizomorphs (the fungus&#8217; root) has spread underground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It comes after a family escaped disaster by &#8216;inches&#8217; when undetected honey fungus sent a giant tree in their backgarden flying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Lauren Gordon, 49, was letting her dog out in their backgarden in Herfordshite when she heard a\u00a0massive bang and a squeal from the miniature cavachon.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She said: &#8216;My daughter thought she heard a gun going off.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-bd740a49e512d51c\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/99400037-14806581-image-m-34_1750018418535.jpg\" height=\"514\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Honey fungus\u00a0spreads rapidly underground and can attack roots up to 30metres away, infecting and killing the roots of plants before causing the dead wood to decay\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Honey fungus\u00a0spreads rapidly underground and can attack roots up to 30metres away, infecting and killing the roots of plants before causing the dead wood to decay<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-4899ce471c16032b\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/99400031-14806581-Honey_fungus_has_the_power_to_wreak_havoc_on_gardens_having_been-m-6_1750328893840.jpeg\" height=\"382\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Honey fungus has the power to 'wreak havoc' on gardens, having been described as the 'most destructive fungal disease in the UK'\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Honey fungus has the power to &#8216;wreak havoc&#8217; on gardens, having been described as the &#8216;most destructive fungal disease in the UK&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-6d5a6876b93e5d47\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/99528445-14806581-image-a-7_1750328903857.jpg\" height=\"845\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Honey fungus\u00a0has been described as the 'most destructive fungal disease in the UK' and spreads rapidly underground\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Honey fungus\u00a0has been described as the &#8216;most destructive fungal disease in the UK&#8217; and spreads rapidly underground<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Everyone was completely bewildered and because it was very dark we couldn&#8217;t see where it landed but it missed the back of the kitchen by inches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It wasn&#8217;t even wobbling around it just fell and all the roots had come out of the ground.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Ms Gordon said she had &#8216;absolutely no idea&#8217; there was anything wrong with the tree.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;We had a few tree surgeons over and apparently honey fungus has been growing in the garden for 10 years,&#8217; she explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It runs underground so now we&#8217;re concerned for all the other trees in the area.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She is now worried about what this means for the other trees in the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Ms Gordon said: &#8216;It&#8217;s costing a lot to get it removed it&#8217;s going to take days to remove it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;We&#8217;re very lucky it would have been awful if it squashed the dog or hit the kids.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But with the increasingly hot weather honey fungus could be on the rise across the UK because it is generally found in hot and dry conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">So before letting your pooch roam free in the garden&#8230; check for golden toadstools.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        I&#8217;m a gardening expert&#8230; if you see THREE key warning signs you should call a tree surgeon immediately<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do YOU have a story? Email: jordana.seal@mailonline.co.uk\u00a0 By JORDANA SEAL Published: 06:06 EDT, 22 June 2025 | Updated:&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[92,368,105,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-205201","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-femail","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114727260697349526","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}