Looks close to dead to me. Well on the way to being firewood. Probably fire blight. That's quite common in plums, I believe...

Agree with embothrium. If it does turn out to be privet you may need to remove it and treat with strong herbicide.

What's wrong with it, if the tree is dying and there is nothing but grass nearby, why not keep it?

It is a highly invasive species and spreads aggressively. After it gets out of control, it is really hard to stop.

Depends on geographic location

Okay

Say central Texas, north of San Antonio?

==>>>http://texasinvasives.org/resources/publications/06_Privet_TFA.pdf

Alright I'll get rid of it. Also, some guy told me to just add on to a thread, but I don't know how to do that. Because if I comment, it is ignored.

Don't worry about it. If you want to research it some more, do so. I would suggest removal of both the plum and the privet, which most other gw members will probably agree with. Here most of the forest understory is dominated by privet. It takes over abandoned homes, parking lots, fields that need to be plowed, vegetable gardens, landscapes where it is planted, etc. Maybe you could replace it with some sort of holly, or a juniperus virginana. The plum could be replaced with a redbud, or maybe a crepe myrtle (my favorite is 'Natchez').

A friend of mine who grew up on a ranch on the Medina River , west of you, bought some privet from a mail order off the back page of the newspaper (remember those days , if you are old enough?) . He planted them as a teenager, and he is still fighting their numerous progeny in the back canyons on the ranch , now that he is in his late 60's and retired. That is in un irrigated rocky Hill Country soil of the Edwards Plateau.

Hang on, Joseph. Embothrium only said it 'looks like' privet on the info available. Personally, I can't even tell with 100% confidence whether the foliage is opposite or alternate. It could well be a variegated privet but before you destroy it give us some closer pictures.

Appears the plum tree was planted too deep with dirt piled well above the top of the root flare. Needs to be replaced.

Dont go getting rid of plants just because people on this forum tell you to do so. Do what YOU want.

On a nation wide level eradication of nuisance plants costs a lot of money. So people harboring known locally significant bad actors should in fact control or remove them - it's more than a matter of individual preference. A single reproducing individual can be the basis for a continuing infestation of some size that remains underway as long as the source plant remains present.

That may be true but they should only remove plants after doing their own research. I would NEVER take out any plant in my yard based on what a joe shmoe stranger on the internet said.

I have had bad experiences with privet. It isn't a personal preference...... or well, it is because you don't want it. You think it's just a cute little green shrub then your backyard turns into a forest of it after it blooms and seeds.

We don't know for certain that it is privet yet. Perhaps that discussion should wait for a definite id?

One could take pictures of it, Form, close ups and flower shots of it to the NAME THAT PLANT forum with your approximate location . I bet you will get an ID quickly there.

Post it in the shrubs forum, or in this thread. People hardly ever visit the name that plant forum. Get a closer picture of the foliage, any fruit (berries), or flowers.

'People hardly ever visit the name that plant forum.'

Maybe you don't, Logan. But it is one of the busiest forums on GW.

I found my questions on that forum answered very quickly.

Do any of y'all know anything about cacti

I tried on the cactus forum, but usually it is answered very quickly, but now nothing

I would try on the texas, or Arizona forum, but wait awhile. Were you on the Cactus forum or the Cactus GALLERY forum. The Gallery forum is dead but the regular discussion forum is alive. I have accidentally made that mistake more than once when starting a thread.

I was most definitely on the cactus and succulents gardenweb forum. Also do I just comment on my own post to get the experts attention, because someone told me to keep it to one thread, but no one is ever on it., also there's no edit button.

I visit quite frequently and try to provide helpful information to questions that I can answer. What cacti do you need info on specifically? Do you have another photo of the large shrub for identification?

The shrub I'm not worried about for now, because in the 8 years I've had it, no other shrubs have sprouted anywhere, but the cactus I'm more worried about, take a look at the Cactus Mold discussion.

Ok, will do :)

I read the thread on the cactus forum. My take is , looks like the growth point is messed beyond hope. write it off and go buy another. Hard to hear but I find that if ones steps are not working , go for broke and toss it. My time is too short to spend it worrying over sick and hopeless situations. I am heartless that way.

Agree w/tlbean2004 -- get tired of the choruses of "get rid of it" or "cut it down" on posts.

beng, he can either remove the plum now or wait until the next windstorm when the weakened trunk breaks off. The first part of this video explains.

As far as the privet goes, one that old has already spread it plague of seeds around the area and there are most likely several others growing that were provided by the same nursery. So removing it for invasive control is too little too late.

I repeat - if it's a Privet. We still don't know for sure. And I, for one, can't even tell if it has alternate or opposite foliage. From what I can see it could as easily be Pittosporum tenuifolium. Not saying it is but it looks more like that species than Privet to me on the scant evidence.

"get tired of the choruses of "get rid of it" or "cut it down" on posts."

But many times that is the soundest or most environmentally friendly advice.

Exactly.

The shrub is variegated Chinese Privet. The good news is that the variegated part is sterile, but the bad news is that if you don't keep an eye on it, it will revert back to the green form (as seen in the pic), and the green form will produce seeds. So, if you want to keep it that's fine, just make sure to keep the solid green parts clipped out.

As for the plum, it looks like it's trying to callus over the dead wood, so I'd just leave it alone and see what happens. It's not big enough to do any damage if it falls over. Spraying it with some dormant horticultural oil wouldn't hurt, just in case it has borers.

'As for the plum, it looks like it's trying to callus over the dead wood, '

What's happening is it's growing sap wood and bark over the rotting heartwood core of the tree.

The whole problem is that it was planted way too deep with no root flare showing above the ground. That tree may survive but it certainly won't thrive and become a healthy tree. It at least needs to have the root flare exposed as in the video I linked to further up.

Sorry, I've been real busy lately with school and work, but here's the shrub up close. As you can see, the shrub itself grows form a single thick stm in the center, and what's odd is that there are two types of leaves growing from the same branches, one glossy and dark, and the other papery and white. There is nothing poking out of the ground around the plant and there are no others like it on either side of the fence.
Also, about tree, is it possible to dig up all the mulch using tools without hurting the roots, if not, can you use a pressure washer?

Yeah, it's a variegated privet gone rogue. The variegated part of the shrub is sterile, while the green part will bloom and re-seed. No reason to rush if you aren't seeing suckers and volunteers. After you finish off and replace the plum you can worry about the privet. It WILL get larger than that. Won't take long to consume half of your yard.

"Also, about tree, is it possible to dig up all the mulch using tools without hurting the roots"

Joseph, did you watch the video that I linked in my second post? You only have to remove the dirt down far enough to expose the root flare. The adventitious roots that are coming out the side of the flare need to be removed anyways so you won't hurt anything. They use air in the video but if you're careful you only need to dig the dirt and roots that you will be removing.

Is there a way to keep the dark green leaves from returning, also, there have been dark green leaves before that dropped little berries, in fact, at one point the plant was completely dark green, but they never sprouted, not a one, I even planted one in a pot and placed it on a window sill, but nothing happened, I also have a similar shrub in the front of my yard, and those also drop berries, but they don't sprout either.

You could replace it with a variegated english holly.

OK - now we can see the shrub is a Privet. I wasn't questioning it for the sake of argument but for certainty. You can stop a variegated shrub from reverting by consistently removing all plain green growth. But it is a continuous job.

I see a ball under the bush. If that means there are people playing in the yard I would not plant variegated holly. It is an extremely spiny plant and the prickles take for ever to rot. Fallen leaves are a very painful on the hands and feet.

Consistently removing all green growth seems like too much work just to keep this undesirable shrub.

About the Mexican plum, I got rid of as much mulch as I could, but I had to leave it for a while because of school, and these little things sprung up, what are they, and also the tree is growing flowers.

Your tree does still have too much soil or mulch around its trunk. Those little things are probably root shoots and will grow up to large trees eventually

I can't see the pic very well, but they do look like suckers, although my Mexican plums have never suckered like other native plums. The suckering is probably in response to the trunk injury.

If it were mine, I'd let one of those suckers grow to be a few feet tall, then cut down the old tree. That sucker will turn into a new tree in no time.

Ok

I'll see what happens