Is My Tree Dying? 8 Signs to Check

The eight checks, from the ground

• Scratch test. Scrape a small patch of bark on a twig with a fingernail. Green and moist underneath means alive. Brown and dry means that limb is dead. Test several limbs on different sides.
• Bare canopy in season. If more than about a third of the canopy has no leaves in full summer, something is seriously wrong.
• Early fall color. A tree that turns weeks before its neighbors is usually stressed, not early.
• Small leaves. Leaves noticeably smaller than previous years signal a root problem.
• Mushrooms or conks at the base. Fungal fruiting bodies mean decay is already established inside the trunk or root flare. This is the one that worries arborists most.
• Bark falling off in sheets, especially exposing a smooth, silvery or tan dusty surface. On stressed oaks in North Alabama that pattern often indicates hypoxylon canker, and by then the tree usually cannot be saved.
• No root flare. If the trunk goes into the ground like a telephone pole with no widening at the base, it may be planted too deep or have girdling roots.
• Trunk cracks, cavities, or hollow sound. Tap the trunk with a mallet and listen for a drum-like hollow at the base.

Stressed is not the same as dying

• Drought, construction damage, and grading are the three biggest causes of decline in Madison County, and all three show up one to three years after the event, not immediately.
• A stressed tree can often be recovered with deep watering, proper mulching, and time. Do not fertilize a stressed tree - pushing growth it cannot support makes things worse.
• A tree with major trunk decay, significant root loss, or advanced canker generally cannot be recovered, and the question becomes when to remove it, not whether.

When to stop guessing and get an assessment

• The tree is large enough to hit the house, a car, or a place people sit.
• You see mushrooms at the base or a cavity in the trunk.
• A removal company told you it must come down and you have no second opinion.
• An insurer, an HOA, or a neighbor is involved and you need something in writing.
• An arborist assessment costs a small fraction of a removal, and it sometimes proves you don't need one at all.

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