Question
Hello Jim,

I have a sickly looking ( about 2/3 dead) Mulberry tree with a large rather fast growing thing at the bottom. It grows initially white then turns brown. If you touch the white part it is mushroom-like, a little slippery. The tree is important to the look of the yard but I don't want it to fall on the house. Can I do anything to save it?

Answer
This is the fruiting body of a decay fungus. The fungus enters the tree through a wound and will start to decay the inner woody cells. This decay will take many many years to really cause any concern. The first signs of a problem tree would be large limbs breaking off and these will be hollow at the point they are connected to the trunk. You will see hollow limb stubs up in the crown of the tree. There is nothing you can do about eliminating the decay fungus from the trunk. But keeping the tree healthy will insure the formation of new cells and strengthen the root system and the tree. I would fertilize the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and water in good. Do this in the early spring.

Keeping it healthy it should live for many year to come without a problem.