I live in northern NJ and planted this tree in early spring.The hole was just as deep and twice as wide as the root ball.I've also put sweet woodruff around the base to about three inches of the trunk along with assorted perennials starting about four feet from the trunk. It was a warm and wet spring followed by a wetter than average early summer.My problem is that after about five weeks I noticed some of the leaves turning their fall colors,a situation that has persisted until now about half the tree is in this state. The tree was a beautiful specimen about five feet high with excellent bloom. I've used no fertilizers or nutrient supplement of any kind and only watered twice weekly. any help will be appriciated.
If field-grown and coming in clay-like soil ball, perhaps dry inside and repelling water. Coarse potting soil may also dry out while the soil around it is still moist, due to the latter having a finer texture and thus a greater attraction for water - the potting soil is constantly losing water to the finer soil around it. Liberally amended planting hole backfill often has the same problem during dry conditions. (And in a damp, heavy soil a planting hole filled with liberally amended backfill or other coarse material, such as "planting mix" may act like a sump and receive and collect water from surrounding soil). Carefully poke around in the original rootball to see if this is dry. Check in the part that is below the affected branches.
