Question
QUESTION: Hi,

  We have several fruitless mulberries in our yard in East Contra Costa County, CA. We lost one a few years ago after several years of a slowly progressing problem where the leaves gradually became smaller and smaller and fewer and fewer every spring and fell off the tree sooner in the fall. Eventually, the tree just died. Now, three years later, another one appears to be at the very beginning of this downward spiral. We would like to do something if possible. There are no spots on the leaves or weepy, gummy areas in the trunks that I have noticed. Is there anything else I should look for to give you more information? Thank-you very much in advance for your time and brain cells!

ANSWER: Denise:
You might give the trunk a look. Check for areas where the bark may have been damaged or loose. Take a look at the branches above- any breakage. Any damage to the roots- like any digging that may have injured the roots.

These are general things to check. May be an indication of internal troubles.

Keep me posted!

Steve

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dr. Vann,

    Thanks for your reply. I had a close look at the trunk and found two deep cracks in the bark about 1 cm deep. one is about 4 cm long, the other less than 2. They are both located near the top of the trunk, just below the first branches. There are a couple of small areas where the bark is lifting, but the inner softer part of the tree is not exposed when I remove it. The cut areas where branches were removed many seasons ago have several small pinholes (maybe 1mm wide) and .5-1cm  in depth. There are no cracking or broken branches and the roots are not visible. There has been no digging there in many years and it was not very deep.... maybe 3".

   Our soil is very sandy with good drainage. We have extremely hard water here. The trees are watered daily with a drip irrigation system from about April to October, then every other day until it starts to rain. There are daffodil bulbs,ferns, spider plants, grape vines and a couple of old roses planted underneath. They all seem to do OK.

   Where do we go from here? Thanks for your time.

Denise

Answer
Denise:
Thanks for the information. From your description, there may be some low level of internal decay- just difficult to tell from the size of the cracks on the outside portion.  How tall would you say the tree is? Can you reach around the tree at about chest level?  Can you take a photo showing the entire tree or at least the upper 50-75% of it and attache to an email?  Be sure to review your image on your computer to make sure it is in focus before sending.

Thanks
Steve