Question

branch  

trunk   I have a tulip tree that I planted in April in poughkeepsie ny the buds were green and now are brown.  I scratched the bark on tree trunk and it is green, but in all of the branches under the bark are brown. Do we have a dead or dormant tree?

Answer
If the color under the bark is not green that that branch is dead. If the main stem is still green then the tree itself is not dead. I would not give up yet but the tree is under a lot of stress. I would water the tree twice a week with 1 inch of water--place a pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop. Also if you have not done so mulch around the tree with not more than 4 inches deep with pine straw mulch. Go out about 2 feet with the mulch and not piled up on the trunk. This will help hold the moisture around the root. You can prune the dead branch off but I would wait until you get new growth first.