Honey fungus - Armillaria

I always thought that was why it was so dreaded Elke!

Thanks for telling us.

i have this in the front garden. with out there would not be renewal or the removal of dead and dieing plants. There are 7 species and some will kill old/disesed trees whilst others only rot down the dead wood. I have found it to be an interesting fungus.

I thought it spread from infected trees and posed a problem SBG?

I'd never heard of it before - here's another good link:
http://www.50connect.co.uk/home_and_family/home_and_garden/herb_and_veg_gardens/herb_and_veg_gardens_archives/honey_fungus
This one is interesting too:
http://www.extremescience.com/zoom/index.php/largest-living-thing
Good luck, everyone!

It will spread as most living things do and apart from a few susceptible shrubs and trees it doesnt seem to affect herbaceous plants. At least that is true for the species I have in the garden. I sent a sample off to the RHS and they identified it for me. They also gave me a list of trees and shrubs that would be suitable to plant etc.

There are some aggressive species but they only really gain access to the host if it is damaged etc or under stress.

The 'fear' is unfounded really and whilst distressing to loose a nice plant the honey fungus genera do an important job of recycling dead materials.

We need to learn to garden with what we have and make only small changes to an area for us to succeed.

Very good advice, Seaburngirl. Sometimes we can be too quick to "correct" the way we think Mother Nature should behave.