Silting mulberry

[Walnutseeker]

I planted 2 mulberries last year. One of them seems to be doing fine. The leaves on the other one just started wilting, although there is new growth in the bottom that looks healthy. Has anyone seen this before? Any idea what this is or how to deal with it?

 

[pdqdl]

How close have you looked at the very base of that failing stem?

I'd look real close for some evidence of damage to the bark/cambium. Just stepping on a plant that size can cause serious problem.

 

[Walnutseeker]

How close have you looked at the very base of that failing stem?

I'd look real close for some evidence of damage to the bark/cambium. Just stepping on a plant that size can cause serious problem.

Thanks. I’ll have a closer look but my guess is no damage. I should mention that most of the wilting growth up top is new this season. It leafed out ok, and then started looking a little rusty and droopy. I also had an enclosure about 3-4 feet tall of hardware cloth surrounding this tree until recently. I had put this up to prevent browsing by deer, but I wonder if the leaves could have had a bad reaction to the metal of the enclosure. The edges of the outer leaves were running into the hardware cloth.