Horse Chestnut in distress

[Cynthia Dyke]

My parents have a large horse chestnut tree in their London garden. Recently they noticed the leaves dying. Now it is completely covered with brown leaves but yesterday they did notice tiny green shoots appearing. However they also saw that at the back of the tree there are a couple of places where a thick brown substance is oozing from the trunk. Any ideas gratefully received as to causes and, in particular, remedies.

[snick]

It sounds like it could be being attacked by a fungal form of canker which often results in gum oozing out near wounds. Unfortunately this can be quite serious. If it is canker, and if you really want to save the tree it is worth getting a specialist to have a look. The usual remedy is to cut out the affected parts of the tree and or apply a fungicide.