In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 29/04/20 23:44, alan_m wrote:

I have an (eating) cherry tree that 10+ years old. This year the tree
has what appears to have two dead branches of around 3cm diameter where
the branch meets the main trunk. Early in the season the branch ends
produced the start of leaf buds but since any activity on the two
branches ceased. The ends of the branches can be easily snapped with no
hit of living wood in the centre.

There never is on any tree. The centres of a tree's branches and trunk
are fully lignified for strength. If you want to see if a branch is
alive make a small scrape on the bark to remove the outer layer. If it's
green underneath it's alive. If not, it's dead (this still holds true in
winter when deciduous trees are dormant). There is a small minority of
plants (eg clematis) which do not follow this rule, but in general it's
a useful test - make several scrapes, starting furthest away from the
trunk until you find green underneath. Then cut the branch off close to,
or even through, the green bit. If the tree is healthy, the cut will
callus over. It's a good way of dealing with dieback.

While that's true, branches (on most trees) snapping easily are an
indication that something has rotted the heartwood. That's not always
serious, or even detrimental, of course.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.