Hello Donald,

Would you please attach a picture of the trunk where it enters the soil— certain characteristics may indicate a girdling root, or may show damage from mowers or string trimmers.

Follow the branch back toward the trunk and see if any cracks or damaged areas are on that limb( binoculars may help), these could indicate storm damage or canker disease.

Issues to check are:

Root zone damage- from past flooding, construction, parking vehicles near the tree are some possible causes.

Girdling roots, which slowly constrict the trunk stopping flow of water and nutrients. These may be visible or may be below ground. If the trunk goes straight into the ground “like a telephone pole” that is not good; the tree was planted too deeply which encourages girdling roots and can restrict oxygen getting to the roots.

https://extension.psu.edu/girdling-roots-to-cut-or-not-to-cut

Fungal diseases, cankers on limbs, and internal rots. Especially in maples, verticillium wilt slowly kills trees. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/verticillium_wilt_refresher#:~:text=Symptoms%20of%20verticillium%20wilt%20can,when%20hot%2C%20dry%20weather%20begins.

Branch samples with leaves can be submitted to MSU Plant diagnostic lab for analysis. There may be a modest fee for the diagnosis. https://www.canr.msu.edu/pestid/

Storm and ice damage can crack large limbs, causing dieback later.

Drought stress from previous years ‘adds up’ and slowly kills trees.

A certified arborist can come on site, examine the tree and determine which issues are present, and if it is possible to treat them. Find them by zip code search here- http://www.treesaregood.org