Question
I live in California's hot Central Valley. Planted two ginkos about 10 years ago and have enjoyed watching them grow. One just turned gold - in July! - and is losing its leaves. The spring was cold and wet. Summer is now hot and dry. The sprinklers were accidentally turned off for a week, but the lawn has recovered. I deep watered the tree, no help. We do have ground squirrels and gophers on occasion, but fight them off. I don't want to lose the tree ... what should I do? The other one, about 30 feet away, is just fine. This area was an old walnut orchard, with this house being the original farmhouse. Had to take out some really bad, stunted walnuts when we landscaped. But that was 10 years ago ...

Answer
Lin:
Sounds like there may be have been a water deficit past the critical point for that one tree. If you think that the gophers may be a factor, then you may consider taking steps to manage them. To be sure that the tree is dead, scratch smaller twigs with your fingernail and look for green tissue below the bark. If you see any signs, continue deep slow irrigation and see how it looks in the spring.

Steve