Seeing no picture.

Planted too deep (no visible root flare) and possible mechanical damage are the the most likely cause of the die back.

Time to dig down around the trunk until you find large roots coming off of it. Then take a pic and tell us how far below the ground level it is.

John

ps - by this time it will probably be a learning experience for next time :( This is a disease prone/short lived tree to begin with and it can be hard to overcome once it starts to decline.

Here is a link that might be useful: You are trying to find this

here are more photos
I dug down till i hit a root. I planted the root ball 1/3 above ground then covered with mulch. Can't be sure how far down the roots were in the root ball however. (root ball being what the nursery had wrapped with burlap.
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here is one of the tree
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I don't know for sure why the pictures aren't showing up, but I was able to right-click on the place holders and select "view image" to see them. I'm going to guess that the extraneous backslash after the URL is causing the problem.

What kind of soil is the tree planted in? Was the backfill amended at planting? Does the area drain well?

Here are the pictures. The second one has been loaded upside-down, and apparently there's more than just the extraneous backslash. Postimage.org is just a cruddy excuse for an image posting site. I'd suggest one of the better (more user-friendly) services.

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I see burlap to the right of the base. If wrapped around the tree, I doubt that's helpful.

most of the problems associated with a rather LARGE transplant.. as planted by a neophyte ...

if you plan on planting more trees ... go at least half that size.. instant gratification is not good with trees ... and study brandons bible at the link ... and follow it to the letter ...

excavate a 3 foot ring.. exposing the root flare.. taking the soil down in the whole area .... and install some retaining block to keep that area lower ... just a single course.. which will also keep the mower away ... basically a very shallow tree well ...

and see what it does.. it is not uncommon to have to prune out dead stuff on large transplants.. and if it lives.. that will have no lasting harm ...

lets say.. putting aside the planting issues.. all your problems were caused by the guy who balled and burlapped it.. lol ... if a tree is as big below ground.. as above.. just contemplate how much of its root system was cut off .. to wrap it for transport ... and that is the root of why it is struggling [pun intended]

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Woody plants are very much larger below ground than above... that mirror image stuff is a myth. Field grown trees are harvested with the full knowledge that most of the root system WILL be left in the ground. It's estimated that as much as 90% of the roots remain behind. And yet, we still reasonably aim for a 100% success rate for the consumer. A good tree grower will be confidant that his/her trees leave the property in excellent condition. It's what happens afterwards that causes the problems. (Of course, not all growers are good growers!)

Properly harvested trees and shrubs will be removed with equipment like a commercial tree spade or sharpened hand tools so that roots are cleanly cut and not smashed and torn. The ball should be either wrapped OR planted immediately so that those root ends don't desiccate.

Once properly planted, the roots will begin to regrow by leaps and bounds. Just as with the top part of a woody plant, pruning can be a rejuvenation process....those small root tips will branch out behind the cut, creating more and more initials.

Though it will be difficult for any of us to determine what the problem is with this tree without seeing the 'patient', I usually want to point a finger at planting and after care methods. Could excess mulch have been an issue? Is an irrigation head pointed directly at the trunk? Mis-handling of the tree can cause problems, too. I've seen valuable trees get rolled off the back of a pick-up to crash on the ground.

One thing I think no one has mentioned so far is, at least in my experence, the actual root flare on every BnB tree I've planted has been at least 4-6" BELOW the soil level. Just because the soil level is planted above grade does NOT mean the root flare is. It is not your fault at all if this is the case. This should be corrected when the tree is dug from the tree farm IMO.

John

It seems I should have provided much more information to start it off, and should of took more care in posting images. Let me answer some questions that have been asked and provide more photos.

At the start I had two trees, one of them has passed on (it was actually planted higher then the one still alive).

The trees were planted in July of 2011.

The soil level from the wrapped root ball was about 4" above the root flare.

The burlap is just a small part that was above ground, the burlap was loosend and left over the with the tree (as directed by the store). The burlap has almost broken down fully now.

I Watered the tree with a garden hose after planting. No sprinkler head hitting the tree.

My soil is hard clay (ya!) I dug a fairly big hole and added top soil to the whole along with the soil from the root ball its self.

When the company brought the trees they were not covered (wind burn?)

Here are some more photos, I dug down to the root flare all the way around. Seems like there might be a bit of fungus at the bottom of the tree as well.

SO the Course of action looks to be digging the dirt away to the root flare, and putting something to hold the soil back? Should I use any anti fungus or bug treatments?

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[ Download all those pictures on a zip-archive ]

The black line around the tree is where the mulch stops