Diablo ninebark tree dead?

Hello,

I have a diablo ninebark tree that I think is dead. I'd like to get some opinions from more experienced gardeners here. Last September, I had a landscaper come and straighten out the tree that was leaning. I have a fence, and he used a plastic chain to loop the tree and attach to the fence. He also pruned a few branches. He told me I should prune it some more, in the late fall, when the leaves have fallen and it goes into dormancy. In late October or early November, I pruned off some more branches, that were crossed w/other branches.. some of the top that was getting too big and smaller, dead branches...also to shape it. The tree always had the peeling bark and berries. Yesterday, I noticed that all the peeling bark is gone on the trunk and is bald. The berry pods are dry and crumble to dust when I crushed one in my hand. I also cut off a small piece of a major branch, and it was brown inside and hallow.. no green or white. I'm sure the tree is dead. Although, maybe there's some hope that it's ok and there's still a chance? I've had this tree for three years and it's in ground. I've never seen it without any peeling bark. What did I do wrong? Any opinions are welcome, please. Thank you in advance.

Hmmm, I've got 'Summer Wine' ninebark and I can't recall checking on it this time of year. I know in spring it can look pretty dead until I start seeing hints of green in it. If I remember tomorrow I will scrape a branch to see if it looks dead or has some green in it. Anyway not much you can do it about it until spring (unless you were looking to replace it this winter).

No idea what you did wrong but the parta you describe certainly sound like they're dead. Wait 'til spring and see if any of the stems leaf out. If not, it's dead... whereas now, it may only be "mostly dead"... ;-)

There's a chance it can sprout from the roots. Of course, it'll be some years before you get back to the size you had.

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I'll just have to wait until the spring to see what happens.

Looked at my ninebark a short while ago and still waiting on photos from my phone to transfer to my laptop (via email). Some branches appeared dead and snapped like they were. Some had darker branches coming off the older lighter color limbs and had obvious buds. I cut into one of the darker branches and it had just a hint of green. The older branches are the ones that had shedding bark but also had the lighter color bark (not that I find that significant other than observation).

Anyway if you don't have to replace your plant this winter, I'd let it alone and see what it does in spring.

Yay the files finally got here. I doubt this will be much help but here is what mine looks like today.