Once winter arrives, most trees will enter their annual dormant period. They’ll shed their leaves in the fall and conserve their energy all winter for the next growing cycle in the spring. Sometimes, your plants’ appearance may give the impression that they’re dead, so knowing how to tell if your tree is dead or dormant can give you peace of mind.
At Green Green Trees, we provide top-tier tree services in Newberg, OR, and beyond. Below, our experts explain several ways to tell whether a tree is in its dormant period and when you should be calling our arborist to attend to a serious problem.
Top Tips To Determine If a Tree Is Dead or Dormant
It’s common for dormant trees to be bare, which is similar to how some dying or dead trees look. However, dead branches have brittle branches that snap easily. Live ones bend and show some green beneath the bark.
If a twig snap test doesn’t give you a clear answer, here’s how to tell if your tree is dead or dormant using other observations.
Check for Foliage
Most trees should be in full bloom or leaf from late spring until late summer. All except the evergreens will lose their foliage in the fall, leaving them bare for the winter.
One of the easiest ways to determine a tree’s condition is to inspect its foliage. Is your deciduous tree retaining some or most of its leaves in the middle of winter? Unless it’s an ironwood, oak, hornbeam, or beech tree, your plant might have health issues.
Perform a Scratch Test
When learning how to tell if your tree is dead or dormant, remember to try the scratch test. To do this simple tree dormancy test, scrape the bark off a branch with a knife or fingernail. If you see green under it, you have found the cambium layer, which indicates good tree health.
Conduct a Leaf Bud Inspection
Trees can produce new buds from their crowns even when dormant. During the winter, check for buds, which could be green, brown, or deep red. The absence of buds throughout the tree indicates that it’s likely dead.
Look for Trunk Damage
Does the tree have visible trunk damage, such as peeling bark or vertical cracks? Tree bark condition alone doesn’t always signify tree death because cracks and peeling bark occur naturally in many species as they mature. However, if bark is peeling over most of their trunk or the tree has a 360-degree band of missing bark, it’s best to contact an arborist.
Contact Our Experts at Green Green Trees for Help With Your Dead or Dying Trees
Knowing how to tell if your tree is dead or dormant will also help you get removal services before a dead tree causes damage. If you’re noticing typical dead tree signs, our highly experienced, licensed, and insured professionals provide removals.
Is there a problematic tree on your property in Newberg, Oregon, or nearby? Contact us today at (971) 237-6247! You can also call us for tree trimming and general tree health care services.