I would think it would depend upon how large the tree is; how large the container is; and what material the container is made of. Hopefully, your container is not terra cotta or ceramic as both of those are cooking utensil materials. If your container is wood, foam or concrete, these insulate the soil/root ball much more efficiently than many other materials. Other, less efficient insulators can be improved by wrapping their interiors with either several layers of bubble wrap or thin sheets of styro foam. You'll effectively be insulating them as you do your roof and house walls, creating an "ice chest" out of them. The air layers created by the wrapping material will help prevent the heat transfer from the pot sides to the soil ball and roots. How root bound the tree is plays a significant part, too. The more soil you have between the roots and pot sides, the better the crown and roots of the tree are insulated. Soil can be an excellent insulator, but root material pressed right against the pot interior absorb the heat from the pot material, literally cooking them. The larger the pot, the longer it takes for that heat to be transmitted all the way through the soil ball, too. I think when the highest heat hits, if you can shade the pot to prevent it from cooking from direct sun, the tree should make it OK with appropriate water. I would definitely wash the upper parts of it when I water to rinse out the dust and debris and reduce any chances of spider mites which can stress the tree, reducing its chances. Water on the foliage and limbs can also help rehydrate the plant. I can't suggest how frequently you should water nor rinse out the tree, but I would do it in the evening so chances of being burned by sun are reduced. Once the worst of the heat passes, as long as the potted tree seems fine where it's grown, you should be able to move it back to its former position. I wouldn't shade the foliage of the tree. Though it will tolerate quite a bit of shade, growing much more slowly in reduced light, it will alter the ability to tolerate more intense, direct sun, so you'll need to gradually harden it off to the hotter, brighter sun. That can be more difficult than just shading the pot from the direct sun, and may easily result in foliage burn. Though your conditions are significantly more severe than mine here in Los Angeles, the issue of overheating the potted root ball and gradually acclimating shaded foliage to brighter, more direct sun, are common in any hotter area. I hope it helps. Kim

The soil is likely staying excessively moist. Using garden soil - topsoil, clay, etc. - in a container is NOT advised due to its very small particle size (lack of porosity) and lack of ability for it to drain well. Also, those are unnecessarily large containers for such small starts so too much too wet soil as well. Watering every two days is way too much for those little guys in tha size pot and with that soil!! When growing anything in a container you need a dedicated container soil - a soil-less mix that is primarily bark based. If not, you risk the excessive moisture retention and perched water table that will lead inevitably to root rots. Try posting in the Container Gardening forum. This is really not an irrgation issue.

Lavender: Some folks did mention that we had a deep freeze during that time. I don't think it fell to negative, but with the wind chills it is possible. Yes. Both experts who looked at my trees had somewhat differing opinions. In the end, I assumed that all of what they said were possibilities, and tried to address pretty much all of it by casting a wide net. Progress update: I did extensive pruning for Canker, just as suggested by arborists. Cut back about 3-4 inches on the main trunk. Removed all the branches with die back. Removed the crispy foliage. Immediately picked up all branches, dead foliage flakes, and debris and disposed of it. 2-3 days after, on a dry day with no rain on the forecast, they came and sprayed it with antifungal spray. Then again 2 months later had them come out and do another antifungal spray. The spray is for blight; not canker. Boy, do they look short and bare at this point. Most of them lost 3-6 years of growth, assuming there is average 1 foot growth per year. Yay, sort of defeats buying them at the large size...but it is what it is...you just make the best of it and move on. I gave slow release fertilizer evergreen stakes in mid spring and gave again recently in mid fall. About 2 or 3 stakes about 2.5-3 feet apart, and about 2 feet from trunk base. Through the summer, got some decent rains on and off. Not really a drought. Thank god. Every now and then, a few small branches would die and I would prune immediately (also when pruning, you have to dip pruning tool in bleached water to sterilize in between each cut...that's a lot of dipping I tell you). One of the totally healthy appearing trees suddenly had sudden onset die back within 1 week at the top (like most of the others before), and had to prune off about 3 feet off main trunk. Also, about half of the trees have noticeable prominent cracking/tearing in their main trunk. Not just on the bark, but appears to run deeper into the body of the trunk. Current feelings are mixed on the progress: Positive: The die back appears to have slowed down pretty good. The foliage is filling in nicely. Few inches vertical growth since March/April extensive pruning. It appears, the trees that I had to cut few feet off, have selected leaders, and those leaders are showing rapid new healthy growth. Negative: The prominent cracking/tearing in the main trunk is something that was not there before. I have a bad feeling these cracks will progress and eventually hit a critical point and those trees with totally die. On a side note, Taylor junipers are supposed to be pretty good substitutes...if these cypresses indeed fail.

Christopher, I'm not as hot as you are (I'm in Petaluma) and even here, I have learned, sadly, that I can only plant woody plants in late autumn/winter. If I plant in spring I cannot keep up with the watering and the bone dry air is a real hindrance. If that photo was taken here, it would mean that they were on the way out. I do 80% of my planting in November, and then complete the rest of it during December and January. The only things that I plant in January/February are those that might be slightly tender, and I have to watch them like a hawk for the summer. Putting an umbrella or similar structure over them for the first summer can help. All of the questions about soil type and planting methodology are good ones, but no matter what you did, with the hot dry temps in summer it is really hard for newly planted woody plants to get established, no matter how much you water.