How can you tell for sure that your tree is dead.

[Bonsai Guy]

So the tree that I have mentioned before here https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13358 has now lost all its leaves and looks pretty dead to me. I have been taking good care of it as directed. But it just continues to look more and more dead. Don't know what I should do or if there is any way of saving it, but I'd like to try if possible, and if not, I'd like to use the pot for something else. So how do you know for sure that the tree is 100% dead? As opposed to partially dead like Wesley in the princess bride.

[Cuda52774]

Usually the scratch test is your best bet. If you scratch off a little bark at the base of the trunk and see green, it's still alive.

Cuda

[kdodds]

try snapping the end of a twig. If it readily snaps, go closer to the trunk. If it snaps readily at the trunk, it's long dead. If the apex snaps, ditto, and definitely not a good sign for the tree as a whole.