Hello plant enthusiasts, I'm taking care of a school garden this summer and one of the apple trees is exhibiting dieback on a couple of the branches on one side only (West facing side). The tree is an Empire apple and I think it was planted this past March. I've attached a photo of one of the effected branches. Can anyone suggest what might be causing this and what steps I should take to stop it from spreading to the rest of the tree? Thanks.
I can't say for sure without being there to look at a few points on the tree, but I'm going to suggest that the rootball was damaged when it was planted in March. It could have been dropped off of the truck onto the driveway or some-thing like that. Prune off the dead looking branches on a dry day that isn't windy and monitor the tree
