QuestionI live in Bakersfield Ca it gets awful hot here I've got 6 sequoia pine trees in my back yard 30 ft tall surrounded by a 6 foot block wall and one of them on the west side has reddish brown branches from the top of the wall up. The base or lower part is green and the other trees are fine.
AnswerSince it is the upper branches and other trees are not involved I would rule out the wall and environmental (heat). Sounds like maybe an insect or disease attacking the upper stem. I would cut the dead top off assuming all the needles on the top are brown. If they are brow the top is dead. The tree will continue to grow and over time one of the lower branches will become the new top. You will have a slight crook in the tree but the tree will grow.
