Peach Tree Question

[DRT]

I posted before in another thread about my peach trees getting peach leaf curl this spring and all the leaves fell off of one of them. I was told it would possibly come back out next spring so I have just watered it when it was dry and pretty much left it alone. I checked the smaller branches yesterday and they just snapped off. Does this mean my tree is dead? If its already gone I would like to dig it up this fall and plant another one.

[hendi_alex]

You can usually tell if bark is alive or dead by the color. But you can also start pruning off the top growth, starting with smaller branches, and if you get to an area with living wood, the cortex which is just under the outer bark will have a greenish color. If the wood is dead, it will be all brown or grey. Since peach trees are generally grafted, you could possibly have a living root but totally dead top growth of the peach. There is no need to check below the bud union or graft site.