Deborah maple dead?

Question

We have a Deborah maple that we planted a few years ago. Last year mid summer all the leaves dried and shriveled up but did not fall off. In September it looked like the tree was growing new buds. I thought it was all due to the extreme heat we had last summer. Now this spring there is no sign if life from the tree. The bark near the bottom of the tree is splitting as well any idea if this tree would be dead. I do have pictures.

Answer 1

You don’t need pictures to know if a tree is dead, all you need is to look for green tissue. If you bend the small twigs, do they snap apart, and look all brown inside? They’re dead. If you use a knife to scrape off tissue from the larger branches, or the under the bark on the trunk, and you can’t find green tissue, the branch or trunk is dead.
If it is dead, be careful about planting another maple in the same spot, because there may be lingering infection. Also, Norway maples, of which ‘Deborah’ is a cultivar, are considered invasive in some places. This article might be of interest to you: http://www.isaontario.com/content/norway-maples-can-we-use-them-wisely