# How to tell if a tree is dead in the winter



## Plasmech (Feb 2, 2009)

Is there any way to tell if a tree is dead in the winter if there are no obvious signs? This is part one...

Part two, a separate but related question: My buddy has 3 pines that he says are alive however they don't have any needles on them. He is *certain* they had needles in the early fall. Is there ANY kind of pine that doesn't have anything on it in the winter? I'll take some pictures later this week.


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## squad143 (Feb 2, 2009)

Plasmech said:


> Part two, a separate but related question: My buddy has 3 pines that he says are alive however they don't have any needles on them. He is *certain* they had needles in the early fall. Is there ANY kind of pine that doesn't have anything on it in the winter? I'll take some pictures later this week.




Tamarack





-


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## Labman (Feb 2, 2009)

Also, the meta sequioa. Not a pine, but does drop its needles. 

Try scraping the bark off a twig and see if it has a green layer.


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## Plasmech (Feb 2, 2009)

Labman said:


> Also, the meta sequioa. Not a pine, but does drop its needles.
> 
> Try scraping the bark off a twig and see if it has a green layer.



That would be the cambium?


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## ShoerFast (Feb 2, 2009)

Plasmech said:


> Is there any way to tell if a tree is dead in the winter if there are no obvious signs? This is part one...
> 
> Part two, a separate but related question: My buddy has 3 pines that he says are alive however they don't have any needles on them. He is *certain* they had needles in the early fall. * Is there ANY kind of pine that doesn't have anything on it in the winter? * I'll take some pictures later this week.



Yes, dead ones!

A sort of test is to try to snap twigs, live trees are hard to snap twigs, dead ones snap and are very brittle. 

Compare it to others of the same to be sure of your snap test.


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## BuddhaKat (Feb 2, 2009)

How to tell if a tree is dead:


Cut the tree down.
Buck it into stove lengths.
Split it into normal size logs.
Leave it outside over the summer.
When the first cold snap hits, load some logs in the stove and light them. If they burn nice and hot, the tree was dead.


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## tnttreeman (Feb 2, 2009)

*Larch*

Judging by the fact that you are in PA like me, the "pine" that you are referring to that does not currently have needles is most likely a Larch tree. Looks like a pine, but loses its needles like a deciduous tree.


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## Philbert (Feb 2, 2009)

(Maybe it's just sleeping . . . . .?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218

(Philbert)


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## oldirty (Feb 2, 2009)

bald cypress and dawn redwood to go along with the tamarack/larch are the 3 coniferous trees that lose their needles.


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## oldirty (Feb 2, 2009)

Philbert said:


> (Maybe it's just sleeping . . . . .?)
> 
> (Philbert)



also look for buds. if you dont do the scratch test look at the buds but dont be deceived by the dead ones!

and a dead branch usually has bark discoloration that will set it apart.


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## Mike PA (Feb 3, 2009)

tnttreeman said:


> Judging by the fact that you are in PA like me, the "pine" that you are referring to that does not currently have needles is most likely a Larch tree. Looks like a pine, but loses its needles like a deciduous tree.



:agree2: 

If there really are no obvious signs, it may not be standing dead long enough to be dry. Up close, look at the cambrium and look for buds. At a distance, sometimes dead trees will develop a white shelf fungus (don't know real name) before the bark starts peeling off. The tree is always dead when this stuff is up a tree.


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## Biker Dude (Feb 3, 2009)

I asked a cutting buddy that question and he told me "It's dead when it hits the ground" as in when you fell it. I usually look for buds or for bark falling off up in the crown. Up here we have these mean vines that smother trees and can get pretty big at the base. If I see a tree infested with a big vine I will usually drop it because if it isn't dead it soon will be.


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## JeffL (Feb 4, 2009)

If you're up in the tree, I'll usually grab a twig and try to snap it. This varies from tree to tree obviously. Pines are pretty easy, the twigs lose the bark quick and spotting deadwood is easy. Something like a Red/Pin oak, if its newly dead, the twig will bend slightly then snap clean off. Live wood will be more elastic, and bend without breaking, or have to be bent fairly severely before it breaks, and will usually not come clean off, you'll be peeling life bark with it. Bark discoloration/bark coming off is a good sign too of whats dead/diseased/dying.

And yes, depending on the tree, if you scratch through the bark and see a nice light green layer, that is more or less the cambium. Some trees the bark thickens up quickly, and you'll have to be looking at fairly small wood with thin bark for this to be effective. We climb alot of red/pin/white oak and Sugar/Red/Norway maples. You can barely scratch a 3" diameter limb on a red oak here and see the cambium, whereas if you're in an old Norway maple for example, you might go through a 1/4" of bark on a 3" limb before you find your way to the cambium layer.

If you arent sure whether its live, newly dead, long dead, dont climb it!


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## pdqdl (Feb 4, 2009)

Bald cypress is famous for dying every fall, here in the midwest. 

Quite a few new owners assume they are dead, and pay some ignorant (or disreputable) tree company to cut it down. Good money when you can get it, I guess. In over 20 years cutting trees, I've only been asked once to take out a "dead pine" (bald cypress) in the winter. 

NO! I didn't do it!


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## davej (Feb 6, 2009)

Mike PA said:


> At a distance, sometimes dead trees will develop a white shelf fungus (don't know real name) before the bark starts peeling off. The tree is always dead when this stuff is up a tree.



Or half-dead.


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## theBrewMeister (Feb 7, 2009)

First I'll start by saying hello to everyone. I'm a new member and have been reading a lot - invaluable info on here! I manage a 180 wooded lot and use firewood to heat my house throughout the frigid NEOhio winters. What I look for and hasnt failed me yet is, when standing on the ground, look at the crown and if there are no significant small twigs or buds its dead. As trees die the first thing they lose is the small stuff, after a couple years all that will be left is the trunk and some branches with no twigs. This is usually noticed in a wooded lot before debarking occurs. Of course if the tree is in the open and subjected to more wind debarking will happen sooner. Hope this helps


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## ozzy42 (Feb 7, 2009)

BuddhaKat said:


> How to tell if a tree is dead:
> 
> 
> Cut the tree down.
> ...


:agree2:


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