Mulberry tree with lots of dead in it.

[SamT1]

I have a large 36” or more mulberry in my back yard with lots of dead limbs. I’ve been cutting them for firewood this winter!
What do I do to try and salvage the tree?
Do I need to nub it back to where there is no dead left? There wouldn’t be much tree left! Seems the main trunk is great and I could save 5 ft or so of 4 of the large branches.

My home had been abandoned before I purchased it during a drought and I belive the drought got the tree, but I’m not really sure.

 

[farmer steve]

I have a large 36” or more mulberry in my back yard with lots of dead limbs. I’ve been cutting them for firewood this winter!
What do I do to try and salvage the tree?
Do I need to nub it back to where there is no dead left? There wouldn’t be much tree left! Seems the main trunk is great and I could save 5 ft or so of 4 of the large branches.

My home had been abandoned before I purchased it during a drought and I belive the drought got the tree, but I’m not really sure.

One that big may be nearing the end of its life span. Never pruned a mulberry so 8 don't know how it would regrow . It does make good firewood .

 

[SamT1]

One that big may be nearing the end of its life span. Never pruned a mulberry so 8 don't know how it would regrow . It does make good firewood .

Yea I love the firewood. I hate to loose it as a tree though. It’s probably a 1976 model, that’s when the house was built.

 

[Oldmaple]

A 36" DBH Mulberry is an old Mulberry. It will sprout if it has any life left in it but you will run into decay problems down the road.

 

[ATH]

Dead branches all over is typical of an unmaintained old mulberry. Can you post pics?

At least cut out the dead to clean it up a little. Pruning (AKA: removing the tree's food factories) doesn't "invigorate" a tree. Bad pruning can force a new flush of growth because the tree is desperately trying to re-establish new branches to grow leaves (food factories) so it doesn't starve...but that comes at a cost - it can't use its starch reserves somewhere else.