7 Signs Your Tree Is Dying (and When to Call an Arborist)

1. Dead branches, especially at the top

Some interior dieback is normal. Dead limbs at the top of the crown, or large dead limbs spreading through the tree, usually mean the roots or trunk are in trouble.

2. Bark falling off or cracking

Bark sloughing off in patches — especially revealing a gray or brown crust underneath — can mean hypoxylon canker, which attacks drought-stressed oaks and other hardwoods.

3. Mushrooms or conks

Fungi growing on the trunk or root flare feed on decaying wood. The tree may look fine from the outside while the base is hollowing out.

4. A new or increasing lean

Trees that grew leaning are usually fine. A tree that starts leaning, especially with soil heaving up on the far side, may be losing its root anchorage — and that’s an emergency.

5. Leaf problems

Leaves that are small, sparse, yellow, scorched or dropping early can point to root stress, drought, disease or nutrient problems. Yellow leaves with green veins are usually iron chlorosis, which is treatable.

6. Cracks and cavities

Deep vertical cracks and large cavities weaken the trunk. Some trees live for decades with a cavity; others are ready to fail. It takes a trained eye to tell which.

7. Root damage

Construction, trenching, soil piled over roots, or a new driveway can kill a tree slowly over 2–5 years. If there’s been work near a tree and it’s declining, the roots are the first suspect.

Treat or remove?

Many stressed trees can be saved with the right pruning, watering, soil care, fertilization or treatment. Trees with major trunk decay, large root failure or disease that’s too far along usually need to come down before they fall. An inspection tells you which — see tree health & diagnosis, or call 361-850-3643.

Three quick checks you can do yourself

• The scratch test. Scrape a small patch of bark on a twig with a thumbnail. Green and moist underneath means that twig is alive. Brown and dry means it is dead. Check several branches around the tree.
• The bend test. A living twig bends. A dead one snaps cleanly.
• Compare it with its neighbors. Look at the same kind of tree down the street. If theirs have leafed out fully and yours is thin or bare on one side, something is wrong.

Dead or just dormant?

In winter a healthy deciduous tree has plump buds and passes the scratch test. Live oaks are a special case: they drop most of their old leaves in early spring as the new ones push out, and can look thin for a few weeks. That is normal. Leaf drop in summer, or leaves with yellow or brown veins, is not.

How fast to act

• Call today: a new lean with lifting soil, a large crack that has opened, or a big dead limb over the house, driveway or play area.
• Call this month: mushrooms or conks at the base, bark falling off in patches, or a top that is dying back.
• Keep an eye on it: a few dead interior twigs, some early leaf drop in a dry summer, or minor yellowing.

A tree health diagnostic is $50 with our current discount, regular $100, and tells you whether the tree can be treated or needs to come down. If it does need to come down, see tree removal, or crane tree removal for trees over a house.

Common questions

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