Hi - I don't know if that tree can be saved, but I do wonder if it hasn't been watered too often - yellow leaves are usually a sign of that. It's always best to learn a tree's water needs not from a meter or by a schedule, but by getting to know the tree itself and seeing how it responds to watering, how much, how often, in what season, how heavy the pot is at times directly after watering and then later on, etc. You do live in a warm place, and 'dormancy' there would be relative compared to e.g. what iut would mean in the NE. Water isn't always the answer to overheating, but a cooler, or at least partly shaded location might be. I wonder also if it may have had too much sun in a window there - I don't know and can't say of course, but it's another thing to consider. And not knowing your soil mix is another. Sometimes it's best to just let a tree relax (along with yourself :-) a bit rather than treating it like a rigid mechanical thing... let the tree tell you who it is and hearing what it wants. I know how that sounds, but they are liviung things after all but haven't necessarily read the rule books! Good luck and don't be discouraged from trying again - we all lose trees along the way and sometimes it's not about 'us' at all. This post was edited by moochinka on Tue, Mar 18, 14 at 8:46

Bass, Thanks so much for the advice. THe tree is on my PA property. I ended up digging it out of the ground and potting it so that I could control the growing environment more until I can see if it will live. I wasn't aware until B.R. mentioned, that this was a grafted mulberry. I guess the problem with fall planting is that nothing is available for purchase after spring. I've checked to see who else carries them and in each case they were sold out by May. I'll see what I can do with this potted plant-chile, assuming it stays alive above the graft!

I've been researching verticillium wilt, and I don't think it is that. The leaves aren't wilting and the branches aren't drooping. I did some research on rapid growth cracks, which sometimes occur during periods of wet weather immediately following hot, dry weather. I don't know if the spotted leaves and the ctracked bark are related or not. It's now dormant and has shed its leaves, so its hard to determine anyhting else. I'll probably just wait until Spring and see what happens. If the symptoms continue to worsen next summer, I may replace it.

Hi All, I just posted three pictures above of the Chinese Fan Palm and the issue I'm having. It is a bit difficult to tell from the pictures, but the white mold/fungus/sap (whatever it is), is in the mulch mainly, about 1-2 inches deep. In Pic #2, look closely at the big chunk of mulch stuck together from the hard white stuff, it's like a big solid piece and I was able to pry it out of the ground. Thanks, let me know what you guys think and what I can do about this. Should I just get a hoe or rake and break it all up or something? Too much water, too little water? I have no clue at this point what this stuff is and what I should do. Also, in Pic #1, you can see the dwarf grass in the lower right corner that is pretty much dead, and the mulch around it is rock hard from this white stuff as well.