Further:<p>To say "I'm done with this branch", merge it to master.  This is natural; you already do this.<p><pre><code>  git branch --merged master # list branches that are "done"
  git branch --no-merged master # list branches that are "not done"
</code></pre>
Now you never need to delete any branches if you don't want to and you can eyeball their status without introducing any misbehaviors or gymnastics.