Here's what I have:
The trunk on the left has been dead for a long time (dried brown). It is old. The trunk on the right (green) was left alone over winter and it rained a lot. When I came back from travels, the leaves were rotting (too much water and cold I'm guessing?).
The top of the little trunk is cut. I cut it because it was dying/rotting dark brown material, just like the leaves that were in top.
Can it be saved?