To determine whether or not your tree is worth saving, look for the following : [substeps] Grayish or crinkled branches: these branches are dead or diseased. If more than half of the tree's branches appear like this, then the tree is not worth saving.
[header] How to prune old apple trees [title] Make sure that the tree is healthy. [step] Pruning an old apple tree can encourage it to develop new growth and fruit. If the tree is brittle, dead, or diseased, then pruning it won't help.