Without an examination its hard to diagnose.

It sounds like your tree is maturing and declining, i.e., the symplast.
"PROPER pruning, mulching and care is always a good idea.


Sincerely,

John A. Keslick, Jr.
Beware of so-called TREE EXPERTS who do not understand TREE BIOLOGY!
www.treedictionary.com

http://mercury.ccil.org/~treeman/
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.
Some people will buy products they do not understand and not buy books that
will give them understanding.

"H Davis" wrote in message
.. .
I have a black birch tree that is the centrepiece of my back yard. Last
year I noticed it did not leaf out near the top and this year it is
still only 4/5ths foliage. A few days ago I found a part of the branch
that had some buds on it lying on the lawn. Where it was cut from the
tree it was almost saw-like straight. The wood was brown and dark at
the cut, but green and live further up. I do have a free arborist
call-in service that I was going to use, but thought I would also post
here, to see if anyone could help with what might be wrong.

Thanks in advance.