Question

Laburnum tree branches   Chances are your advice to this previous post here is the same, but I thought that if you looked at a picture it might result in better advice.

I am in Kennewick, WA (eastern Washington three hours east of Portland, OR along the Columbia River)

This variagated Laburnam tree is at least 35 years old, perhaps over 50 feet tall. There are very few fresh new leaves coming in. The seed pods all look like they are from last fall. The new green leaves are only coming in at young branches and nodes. There's a lot of dead wood coming off all the main limbs and branches. When I cut a limb off and looked at the inside it seemed that the green cambial layer was not healthy and robust.  

Here's  link to the photo of the tree from the inside looking out.

http://www.directcontactpr.com/files/files/sicklytreephoto.jpg

Any thoughts and advice would be welcome. It may be that it's time to cut this wonderful tree down.

Answer
The Laburnum anagyroides, or golden chain tree are known to have a short lifespan, living for an average of 20 years. I would suspect this has something to do with your trees health. As a tree gets weaker--toward its life cycle- fungi can easily infect the tree and kill it. Two of the common diseases are twig blight and root rot both can kill this tree. You can prune the dead limbs off and see what happens. It could sprout new foliage but If the amount of dead branches is what you describe you may find that if you cut all the dead there is nothing left. I think it maybe time to think about replacing the tree. A new young Laburnum anagyroides, or golden chain tree will be ok if you like them.