A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 tree: alive or dead?

I was out at the archery range today helping clean up. This included cutting down dead trees. At one point we were looking at one tree that looked like it was doing just fine except for the top five feet or so that looked completely dead. One of the other guys made a comment that gave me the impression that any tree that had a dead top was beyond saving. This range is like a small forest and there have been a lot of trees dying lately. Most people contribute this to the long drought we have had in this area, but I am not so sure. But beyond that my question is if the top of a tree is dead then is the tree beyond saving or with care can it do just fine? If so how much and what kind of care?

Also i have another question. I have been thinking of planting a black gum (a.k.a. black tupelo) in my front yard. I'm in zone 4-5, it would get full sun all day, and there can be some fairly strong winds. I was hoping for some opinions on this tree and how well it would work in my area.

a general rule with plant life is that if there is life from the roots up, it is salvagable. dependds on what you want to put into it.

We have trees that are completely missing their tops, and they are fine. You could cut off the dead part of the tree, but the tree itself is not dead. It needs a bit of TLC. As stated before, depends on how much effort you want to put into it.

the tree should grow fine, if the wind is very heavy, stake the plant until the roots are established