Dead or dormant? One scratch usually answers it.
Scratch a pencil-size twig with a thumbnail: green and moist underneath means alive; brown, dry and snapping means that twig is gone — repeat lower until you find life or run out of tree.
Scratch, then look up, then look at the calendar. Thumbnail-scratch a pencil-thick twig: moist green under the bark means that twig is alive; brown-dry-snapping means it’s not — repeat at a few heights, working down. Then check the species: bald cypress, crepe myrtle and most fruit trees go bare every Pinellas winter by design. Bare in January is often a habit; bare in June is always a problem.
The timeline that matters
Give the tree one honest spring. In Pinellas, anything alive has declared itself by late April — buds swelling, twigs greening, some flush somewhere. Past that, waiting doesn’t rescue anything; it compounds two costs. Dead trees dry, harden and shed: removal gets more dangerous (and priced accordingly) as wood degrades, and dead pines in particular go from routine to hazardous in months. Meanwhile decay organisms and beetles set up shop and start shopping your other trees.
Half-dead readings
A dead top with live lower growth means the tree is retreating — survivable occasionally, a managed decline usually. Sprouts only at the very base tell a harder truth: the original tree died and the roots (often rootstock, on anything grafted) are volunteering a replacement that isn’t what you planted. And a tree that leafs out late, thin, and only on some limbs year after year is writing you a multi-year goodbye letter; budget on your schedule instead of its.
What you can do today
The scratch test, three photos (whole tree, a close branch, the scratched twig), and the species if you know it — text the set to (727) 761-8618. In winter, the answer is often “it’s a cypress, go enjoy your weekend,” and we like sending that text. When it’s the other answer, you’ll get it straight, with the honest math on removing it now versus later.
Questions Cody hears every week.
Which Pinellas trees go bare naturally?
Bald cypress every winter, crepe myrtles reliably, and fruit trees like peaches by design. Even some tropical trees defoliate hard after a cold snap and releaf by April. Bare in January is often a species trait; bare in June never is.
How long should I wait before deciding?
Through one proper spring. If a tree hasn’t pushed real growth by late April in Pinellas, hope is doing the talking. Waiting longer doesn’t revive it — it just gives decay a head start, and dead trees get more expensive and more dangerous to remove the longer they stand.
The top is dead but the bottom is sprouting. Save it?
Depends who’s sprouting. Shoots from ABOVE the graft or on main limbs can be a comeback; a dead crown with only ground-level suckers means the original tree died and the rootstock is volunteering. On grafted fruit and ornamentals, that volunteer is usually not the tree you bought.
Tell Cody about your tree.
Three fields. He answers his own phone — you’ll hear back fast.
Faster: text a photo of the tree to (727) 761-8618.