seems odd that the thing has dead leaves hanging on it.. a year later ...

if there is no chance you were away.. and missed it leafing out this year ..... then its dead ..

looks like it may have been planted too deep ...

either cut it to the ground.. or dig it out.. your choice ... just depends whether you want to plant something else in that exact spot ...

ken

Cut off a small branch or 2 to see if they are green inside.

"Cut off a small branch or 2 to see if they are green inside."

This is not always a viable assessment of tree life :-) It can take a long time for a tree to lose sufficient moisture in its interior tissues to become dry and brown, yet the tree can still be very dead.

This looks like an evergreen to me, so OP will not have missed it leafing out. I imagine it was already dead when they moved in.

If it hasn't done anything for a year, I'm sure it's dead. That space looks too small for a tree.

I don't think it was ever a houseplant.

dead tree standing.

you might spray psint it a striking color and leave as a garden sculpture… …