Originally Posted by Tom J

Henley Birder wrote:
Hi all,

I moved to my current house at the beginning of this year. There
are
a couple of trees in the garden, but as we have gone through spring
one of them has failed to grow any leaves. It did have a small
sprout at the end of one branch right at the beginning of spring but
this soon died. More recently it has started to sprout growths on
the
trunk, but not on any of the existing branches.

Mine were caused by the severe drought in our area this past year.
What I am doing has worked in the past. I'm keeping all the "water
sprouts" snipped off that are more than a foot or so below where the
original limbs start. I will wait until the leaves start dropping from
the new growth this fall to take out all the old dead top. If it's dry
where you are, give it a good ground soaking every couple of weeks.
Had the same thing happen several years ago and those trees are still
alive. The difference is, mine are very old dogwoods, but should work
for you too.

Tom J