Holly Tree Leaf Loss

Question

Holly tree was very healthy and beautiful through late winter. But all the leaves turned brown and have dropped off. Many branch tips are dead. Most limbs are still alive, as I carefully scraped a small patch of those limbs to find green tissue. Should I prune the tree/thin the branches to give it a chance to recover with new growth/leaves, or will it continue to slowly die and need to be cut down?

Answer 1

It sounds like it got scorch. This is common in late winter. Cut back the dead growth and it should regrow its leaves.