Fungi Id

[djgeoff]

i am trying to help my mother who is having trouble removing fungi that is taking over her garden, this fungi was first seen growing through the tarmac pavement boarding with her hedge row, attempts by her to kill it off have failed. it is now progressed into her garden boarders. her local council aint got a clue. she would like this fungi killed off. can anyone help with what type of fungi is it? is it toxic etc? she has small dog by the way so her concerns for that as well as herself wilst she tends her garden. i have attached a picture she has taken, sorry about the quality she has not got into all the functions of a digi camera yet.
hope u can help
cheers geoff


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[leek]

Cant see your image - did you post one?

[djgeoff]

sorry messed it up i did 2nd time around i got it right lol. but i got a reply from an email i sent to kew gardens this was the reply:
I am afraid I cannot make out from the photo what kind of fungus your mother has in her garden, but it could well be an earthball (Scleroderma species) which has become fissured and split.
Quite a number of fungal fruitbodies are capable of growing up through tarmac, but Scleroderma species seem to do so frequently and often cause problems - e.g. on tennis courts and sports surfaces. They are ectomycorrhizal (forming a mutually beneficial association with the roots of living trees), so perhaps there is an oak, beech, birch or similar tree in or close to your mother's property - or maybe the hedge is beech?
Kew has expertise on fungal identification not fungal control, so I am not sure I can offer any helpful advice. Removing the associated tree/shrub would get rid of the fungus; concreting over the surface to be protected should prevent fruitbodies forming; a fungicide seems unlikely to help, but you could check out manufacturers.

what my mother wants to know is it poisonous?
and still would like to get rid of it any ideas?
cheers geoff

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by djgeoff

what my mother wants to know is it poisonous?
and still would like to get rid of it any ideas?
cheers geoff

Even if poisonous this would only be an issue if eaten, or in very rare and extreme case if handled without a glove.

If the fungus is ectomycorrhizal as Kew suggest then only by removal of the partner tree(s) will you have much chance of getting rid of the fungus for good - even with the tree(s) gone there may be enough root left beneath the path surface to keep the fungus going for some time.

The fungus is unlikely to break through a properly laid concrete pavement - but if that is a public path that will be a matter for the Council. If that is the case you may want to be cautious about how you proceed - if your mother's hedge is the source of the damaging fungus, the Council might consider her liable for the damage to the Right of Way !

Unless this is Honey Fungus - and that seems unlikely given the suggestion of identity from Kew, there is no danger to your mothers garden plants and you should try to persuade her that these interesting organisms are benign aspects of the natural world. If she doesn't like seeing them in her flower beds she can treat them like any other weed.

CM

[djgeoff]

thanks very much for ur info i will forward it one to my mother
cheers