I'm afraid that we simply don't have enough information, mimi, to give you a very helpful answer.

I'm glad that you recognize that the problem lies somewhere in what you are doing and not some fault of the tree or garden center. To be absolutely honest with you, tree planting should be successful 100% of the time, if the specimen is healthy. I say "should", because there are lots of things that go wrong along the way.

I'll list a few of the most common causes of problems with newly planted trees and maybe something will ring a bell.

Improper planting is the number one cause for failure. Aftercare can also cause problems. Here are just a few of the things we do in error:

- planting too deeply

- using special amendments (of any kind) in the planting hole or mixed into the backfill

- piling many inches of mulch on top of the root ball, against the trunk

- fertilizing within the first year

- not watering sufficiently the first year

- selecting a large tree (rather than a smaller one) which can be very slow to acclimate into the surrounding soil

- planting into a site that does not drain well

Specifically, is this a container grown or a field grown tree? I assume container grown since you hint that you planted it yourselves. And, when did you purchase and plant this tree?

If possible, I'd like to see some photographs of the tree, of the trunk, of the base of the trunk (to see how it's sitting in the hole), etc. Place something recognizable against the trunk so that I can gauge the size of the tree.

A few observations.

Dogwoods don't like clay.

Dogwoods don't like southern Alabama. Even though we are in their native range they rarely do as well as the northern Alabama ones. Every now and then you'll see a nice one but they're the exception to the rule.

Dogwoods generally don't being planted in hot weather.

Have you done a soil test?

I agree, jcalhoun, that it is rare to find a happy dogwood in the very deep south, unless planted in the right locations. When I lived along the coast of SC, in zone 8b, only the dogwoods planted with some shade did well. I loved seeing them growing under the high shade of loblolly or longleaf pines.

Since I've moved to Huntsville, I've appreciated seeing some spectacular specimens, even though hard red clay is typical.

Thanks for all the feedback! This was a burlap balled tree, about 5.5 feet tall. We purchased it from an experienced nurserywoman locally in Clanton in May (late May) and planted it immediately. At first it did fine, even got new growth! The damage did not start to show up until about 2 weeks or so ago. I called Sandra at the nursery and she says alot of folks have called about the same thing. Said instead of watering every other day, in our heat, water DAILY. She also said to dig down just outside of where the root ball is and insert a PVC pipe with holes in it to make sure the water is getting to the roots, as reg watering only makes it about 4 inches down. We are in this phase now and crossing our fingers. She said everyone who did what she said so far has not lost their tree. So we water, water, water and wait....

Your nursery woman is very right in her assessment about the root ball. We even see that issue when it's NOT blazing hot. Field grown (B&B) as well as container grown plants can suffer terribly from dessication even though they are being watered. New research (not so new, really) indicates that we can actually use LESS water, but that it all needs to be concentrated right at the root ball, for the first few months, at least.

Just be sure that your site drains well and that your watering efforts aren't contributing to a swamp at the planting site.

Next time, you may want to consider doing planting projects in the late fall or VERY early spring. It can be tough on deciduous plant to go though this process just when the active growing season has just kicked in big time. If planted in the late fall/early winter the root system gets a chance to establish quite a bit before the onset of spring and subsequent bud break.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Your husband deserves a healthy dogwood.

I have had a few successes and many failures in transplanting dogwoods. I think they are the most finiky trees to transplant. I agree with Rizo that fall transplanting is much better than spring and the smaller the plant the more likely the success, but disagrre with Sally. The main feeder roots of dogwood donot need to be more than 4 inches below the surface. I have pulled up small plants and successfully transplanted them. I think you may be watering too much. Heavy watering every other day even during drought is too much. Once or twice a week is enough.