what is the overall health of the plant?
It is a good reminder to put into perspective overall plant health.Presumably you have found something abnormal or you would not be continuing with the diagnosis, but step back for a moment to consider, overall health. This helps later in terms of what you wii recommend and how important various problems on the plant might be, but is also helps provide focus relative to how long problems might be, have been present. Consider, relative to a healthy specimen of the same plant, if the canopy is full or if the growth rate is normal.
For example, the terminal buds on many deciduous trees produce a distinct scar that delineates seasonal growth. If you measure the space between terminal bud scars on the twig, you can tell how much it has grown in recent years can be telling, and they can often even be traced to a particular event ,such as installation of new sewer lines or a new driveway. Conversely, pointing out normal annual growth can also help allay fears that something major is wrong with the plant-for example, on maple when all that is found is some tarry spots on the leaves.