Question
My locust tree is loosing some bark and it looks like the branches are dead and need to be trimmed.  Can I do that now?  Also, it seems that on other main branches and the trunk that the bark is "splitting a little bit and showing a "reddish" underside on the tree wood.  Is something wrong with the tree's health?  It was trimmed about 7 years ago to remove the "sucker" growth on the limbs and to thin the canopy.  It seemed ok until this summer's extreme heat and dry times.

Answer
The heat and drought can cause the cracks in the bark. It is fine to prune dead branches any time of the year so yes go ahead and cut them. I would water 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. Do this every third day for a couple of weeks unless it rain good. After a couple of weeks water once a week.