interior browning is normal ... i would not be concerned about that.. per se ...

what i cant tell from the pix ... is it supposed to be whitish... or if its off color ... it sure looks like its growing vigorously ... if thats all new growth ...

2 hours more sun shouldnt be significant ...

i am wondering if you had drought last year... and it wasnt watered properly, having been a large transplant ... and if you had a bad winter.. how the exposures differed ... as they each have their own micro climate ...

ken

Definitely had a bad winter in NJ and it probably is more exposed to wind. I planted 10-15 trees/shrubs a year and a half ago, so I was pretty diligent with watering last summer, but I suppose it is a possibility. As long as nothing seems grossly wrong with it, I'll keep an eye on it.

Hi - I'm not an expert but when I was preparing to plant a lot of conifers recently I learned that damage to the rootball can be invisible from the outside but really damaging to the plant. Things like accidentally bumping (dropping) the plant too hard on the ground can cause roots to crack in the rootball and that would increase the chance of death or "failure to thrive".

Maybe somewhere along his life, this one got knocked around too harshly and just needs more time to recover (and a little coddling in terms of checking the soil more often for optimal watering).

Good luck with him,
-EC

It looks as if it is still making an adjustment to it's new location with a diminished rootball for it's size. The new growth looks healthy. The older, inner growth, is suffering. That's fairly normal in a transplant of this size with a less than perfect rootball. It just needs a little extra water than it's partner and should be OK in the future.
It's going to look bad for a while before it looks better.
Do you remember anything about the rootball when you planted it? Cracked real bad, smaller than it's buddy, or any large roots cut off?
Mike

Yeah, the rootball was noticeably smaller than the other. I guess the answer is water and patience. Thanks for the help.