Our first year the pink dogwood had green leaves when it was planted... however in the spring the deers ate the leaves and right now in the heart of the summer it looks like a winter tree. No leaves or nothing. it is very sad. Should we take out the tree and start again or is there something that can be done to bring it back to life?
Either with the present tree, or with a replacement tree, do fence it -- 4 ft stucco wire all the way around will work--we had to do that with all our shrubs/trees until we had part of our property fenced, which interrupted the 'deer trail' to some extent!
Has to be something they can't reach over or through. They will sometimes even stand on their hind legs to feed. Enclosures large enough for them to jump into have to be fenced well above human head height, as when given adequate room they can bound over obstructions like gazelles.
Our dogwood faced similar problems when it became sun burnt one year after removing a larger tree that shaded it all its life. lost all its leaves that summer and thought it was dead. next summer it grew only a few very small leaves, and looked pitiful. this year its back in full force and has lots of huge leaves. I would at least give your tree until next summer to see if it will produce any new leaves before deciding to take it out and buy a new one.
You can also examine the twigs and branches to see if they are still fresh (alive) or dry and brittle (dead). Any parts that have gone brown and crispy can't be expected to re-leaf later; if the whole top looks dead tree should be removed and replaced.
