hopefully it will recover.. it has went through so much this year... remember the unusual freeze we had back in early April? It killed off all of the new foliage. Here are some photos I took today of it after I watered it again... as you can see, the leaves are now mostly brown and crisp...
[IMG]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e172/Tennesseestorm/Tree%20album/100_7061.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e172/Tennesseestorm/Tree%20album/100_7060.jpg[/IMG]
Here is just below it... this vine and grass is still lush... dont know how, because its been so parched...
[IMG]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e172/Tennesseestorm/Tree%20album/100_7063.jpg[/IMG]

We have very bad conditions here.... brown grass, alot of brown leaves... very parched.

The root ball may have dried out, tennesseestorm. Also, I could not identify any mulch near the base of the plant; what happened? My comments below assume that your soil is normal or clay. If your soil is sandy then you need to add about 30-50% more water than noted.

Check the soil moisture manually to see how dry things are: insert a finger into the soil near the root ball to a depth of 4". If it feels dry then the plant needs water (this one time only, water 1.5 to 2 gallons; but normally, start with one gallon per watering in Spring and increase the amount and the frequency in the summer). If the soil feels moist or wet then do not water. If this area is windy, consider transplanting during the winter. When watering, try watering the soil a little (do not water the leaves), pause and then water again.

Mulch (4 inches) will help maintain the soil sort-of-constantly moist and will aid greatly on days when there are wind advisories. Spread the mulch a little past the drip line; more if the location is windy.

Luis

tennesseestorm: Find deep shade cloth and fence posts to make a temporary overhead shade. The weak plant needs all the help.

If the plant was scorched by sun for a short duration, likely it will be recovering later.

Mulching is good. Over watering can also kill the plant.

Thanks for the replies.... where this is actually planted, teh soil is just brown... we have some red clay, but not in this part of the lawn. I would have to check teh moisture with a meter, because around here, most of the ground is too hard/packed to simply stick a finger down in. I will continue to check it for moisture.

Yeah, I think it was simply scorched, but thought since this was a southern plant that would not be an issue. It was in the mid 90s to 102° for a few weeks with minimal/no rain. I watered it though from time to time... just not enough I guess.

Thanks again!