How do you know a tree is truly dead

[bluemingidiot]

We have an olive tree in a colder climate than it was meant for.  But it did well for almost nine years.  The Big Chill has probably killed it.  All the leaves are dead.  Wife wants me to cut it down because it hurts her to look at it.  The cambrian layer still has some green.  I've seen this in other trees which I left alone until they proved beyond a doubt that they were dead.  I think it is easier for me to kill critters than trees.

[Cabin Fever]

I am not sure how you tell if a tree is dead, but I have seen entire forests denuded of all their leaves by tent caterpillars. The trees grew new leaves the following season.

I would wait a year and see if it grows new leaves next spring.

[bluemingidiot]

If it was up to me I would, but I don't wear the pants in my family.

[gayle]

Found this, maybe it will help~

If you want to check whether the main stem is dead, a slight nick in the bark with a sharp knife will soon tell you. Green and it's alive, brown and stick-like and it's dead. If you find a dead bit, try another nick a bit lower, then keep going down.

[Tallpines]

Trees by Joyce Kilmer


I think that I shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree who’s lovely mouth is prest, Against the earth’s sweet flowing brest.

A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray.

Tree that may in summer wear, A nest of robin’s in her hair.

Upon who’s bosom snow has lain, Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree!


The tree belongs to God.
Are you positive God is done with it?

[krisinmi]

My typical approach to an "is it dead?" tree that has zero buds and all the sticks are dried out is to leave it for a year or two and see what happens. Occasionally I'll have one revive the following year, probably had been defoliated like cabin fever mentioned. I've also had a few come back from the roots too.

Sometimes, though, the tree stays dead and then we cut it down near end of second year.

[gayle]

Or you could just cut it down like your wife wants and be done with it.

[bluemingidiot]

Which can be endured longer, an unhappy baby or an unhappy wife?

[Maura]

Cut it back as far down as you have to. I'm sure the roots are still alive, and if they only have to take care of a couple of twigs the bush will make it. I'll bet it needed pruning anyway.

[bluemingidiot]

"Dieback of small stems and leaves occurs when olives are exposed to temperatures below 18 degrees Fahrenheit. These will have a shrivelled, grey appearance at first, but within a couple days all affected areas will become brown and dead. In more severe freezes the trees will shed all their leaves, with larger branches dying at 12 degrees and the entire tree being killed to the ground at 10 degrees."

It got down to 3° here and possibly 2°. It reached deadly cold temperatures two days.  The green chlorophyll behind the bark evidently doesn't dissipate immediately. The cambrian layer in the trunk and lower branches is still green. All the higher branches are brittle and have greenless cambrian layers.

[alice]

WAIT It will tell you.

[bluemingidiot]

My wife has told me. Waiting is not her strong suit.

[alice]

Then dig up the potentially live trees and purchase and plant new ones.

[bluemingidiot]

If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we come up with a way to figure out if a tree is dead other than waiting a year or two to see if there is any new growth? We don't do that with people.

[gayle]

You could have had it cut down by now, instead of over-thinking it to death.

[Melissa]

I would leave it and see what happens. If you control the chainsaw then you control the destiny of the tree!

[bluemingidiot]

We'll see. I will say that if I excel at anything it is probably coming up with excuses for not doing things.

[alice]

You could say you consulted the experts, and they agreed you should wait.

Randy Lemmon, KTRH radio gardening dude said,

Just leave crispy and brown freeze-damaged plants alone until you feel certain no more freezing weather is ahead. If you do cut back damaged plants to green wood, be sure to super-protect them if another freeze is forecast. There are two reasons: A. The fresh cut will act like a straw, pulling freezing temperatures directly into the plant. That can totally kill a perennial that otherwise could handle such weather. B. If you cut back, and temperate weather prompts new growth, the new parts will be highly susceptible to damage from any future freeze.


If it's mushy, gushy, ooey or gooey, get rid of it! Cut it out, remove it - do whatever it takes to get the nasty stuff out of there. If you cut all the spongy parts away from tropicals like bananas, lilies, bulbs, iris of all kinds, or even things like split-leaf philodendrons, you’ll likely be left with just a tiny bit of green material near the ground. But it’s imperative you cut away anything that’s mushy and wet. You really need to get the squishy stuff out because it could harbor fungal diseases that will be pulled into the remaining plant. Just remember you will need to protect them from future freezes that can kill root system if you’ve cut all the way to the nubs. It’s also recommended that you spray a copper-based fungicide right after you’ve cut back to the ground to prevent fungal diseases that love to creep in with circumstances of this type.

[bluemingidiot]

There will not be a future freeze. I forbid it!

[snoozy]

Don't be in a hurry to decide the tree's fate. Remember, most of a tree's substance is underground,and their ability to regenerate can be amazing. In the clearcut next to us, every bigleaf maple that was sheared off either at ground level or even at six feet, immediately sent out sprouts from the cambium, within a couple of weeks. And I'm talking trees trunks that were 24" in diameter just zipped off at the knees or ankles (metaphorically speaking). Bigleaf maples are called "trash maples" by the logging industry, but I love them. They are the most incredible survivors. They say, "I WILL GROW!", they sing that Gloria Gaynor song "I Will Survive".

Now, I don't know anything about olive trees or cultivars, but it seems to me that they tend to be long-lived trees. Small and gnarly, but tenacious. It could be that the cold did kill the upper part of the the tree, the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, but the rest of it under the ground is still alive. I don't know. Ask some people in Spain or Italy or Greece. But at least wait to see what happens when spring comes.

[bluemingidiot]

Not many people who live in the midst of olive trees have seen 2° temperatures.

[snoozy]

That's certainly true. But just see if it shows signs of recovery when spring comes. The roots could be OK. Did it ever produce olives, btw?

[bluemingidiot]

Last year it had some small ones.

[snoozy]

Given that it was spunky enough to try to put out some olives, seems only decent to give it a chance to recover for a season. Be patient.

[jenn]

I snap off the dead looking twigs at the outsides, if they do so crisply and dryly and don't seem green I keep going up in size. If I get it down to where I am not strong enough to snap the branches / trunk I leave it for a bit, start rocking the trunk in a few months if no life, then saw it off if it's in the way or still no signs life. Slow process and still sorting out rootstock regrowth from some otherwise dead trees. WHere I can't snap it off, where there's greenwood, there's hope.

[snoozy]

Update, please. Is the tree truly dead, or did it sprout some leaves, or did you cut it down?