is it dead?
By Caz13
United Kingdom 
Last summer I bought a small birch tree from the knockdown-need-rescue bit from Homebase..don't know which type, but looks to be a weeping one (not just in spirit!). I timed it badly, since we went on holiday shortly after for 2 weeks, & I left it in its too-small pot. My sister didn't get over for her planned watering of my garden & all the leaves were brown on our return. Well, I planted it & watered it & it looked to have tiny leaf buds all over...then winter came. Hmm, it's still not in leaf, but if I scratch the tiny trunk & most of the branches, it still looks 'green'. How delayed would leaves be, if they were coming?? Does it need to go to the great compost heap in the sky?
4 Jun, 2008
Answers
I planted it in the ground & have fed and watered it. The little lower branches & outer ends of other branches are brittle & look a goner, but many of the others are still bendy. The little buds are all there, but maybe they're just sort of 'atrophied'. Just wondered if anyone knew of 'shock' to trees and if they get over it!
4 Jun, 2008
It certainly has had a nasty experience! I really can't prophecy its fate, but still think that with some TLC it might survive. Just as an example, when we came here, there was a small poplar tree planted in a border (hmmm) so we moved it to a boundary at totally the wrong time of year. It dropped its leaves and sulked and I thought it was a goner, but Hey! It wasn't, it waited until the following year and then off it went and now it's beautiful. (it is one that has cream/pink/green markings on its young leaves). So nil desperandum!
5 Jun, 2008
Hmmm. it doesn't sound too hopeful, but as it seems to have some life in it, you have nothing to lose by hanging on and seeing what happens! Have you re-potted it, fed it and watered it? Are the twigs brittle od 'bendy'?
4 Jun, 2008