It does leaf but won't leave

Each winter the last of the fall color in my garden hangs on until March and even April. The leaves get a little tattered and some years the buds have a difficult time because they have to fight for space. As the little birds that winter over seem to like it I'm not sure I can qualify it as a problem, but the tree does seem to have a bit of a struggle in spring. Today the light seemed especially nice and I could see the shape of the branches.