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I have two tall old plum trees in the garden, both have large bright yellow fungus â€" photo link:

http://www.hh-englishpages.de/Hpim6415fungus.jpg

Both trees are about 20 metres apart. Is the fungus bad for the trees? I’m afraid that they are diseased and we might lose them. One tree had the fungus about three months before the other one. The fungus is now going dark and reducing in size.

They produce a lot of fruit. I suspect we may have a worm problem of some kind. One tree is covered in ivy, the other tree is not.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

The problem with fungus is that the bit you see on the outside of the tree is only part of the actual organism; the 'roots' as it were, are are tangled in with the tree itself, and the bit you see on the bark is only the fruiting body/bracket.

I'm afraid that you may need a professional opinion on the type of fungus & therefore the likely impact (or not) on the tree. My books don't give me any info on fungi specific to Plum trees, or bright yellow fungi similar to the picture you posted.

The ivy is easy to sort out (if you want it sorted). Just follow the ivy back to the where the root emerges from ground level, and get out a saw and cut through the main stem. The downside of doing this on a large tree, is that there will inevitably be an unsightly period when the stuff is dying off, and you will probably have to get up there - eventually, months later - to pull the dead tendrils off the tree.

A small note about ivy - the Forestry Commission advice to me on the loss of a neighbouring ivy-covered tree was that the iyy probably encouraged fungi to move in and so led to the tree's demise. Something worth considering, perhaps.

They're probably well rotten somewhere inside.