Dig around the roots, and see if the soil is evenly moist down about 6". You can let the top couple of inches (under the mulch) dry out before you water again, but the entire root area needs to get plenty of water when you do water. Don't water again, after a long, slow watering, until you check and see if it is needed - too much water is as bad as too little. How often will depend on your soil, the amount of sun and wind, and whether or not it rains - you want to give each tree the equivalent of an inch of rain per week, but all at once, not in little dribs and drabs.

It is hard to tell in the photo, what with the shadows, but on the dogwood, can you clearly see the root flare where the tree emerges from the ground? The root flare is visible on the Bald cypress, but not so clear on the dogwood. If it is planted too deeply, that might explain why it isn't doing well. Also, did you check the root ball for encircling roots when you planted the tree? Not having the roots growing out of the pot-sized root ball can also sometimes lead to a problem.

Most trees (most plants) spend their first while (2 years or more for trees) in the ground growing a good root system - they can grow only as much top-growth as they have roots to support. For trees and shrubs to be "established" takes at least 2 years of careful watering, and the third year in the ground, they still need care in dry spells.

I would add more mulch - a circle at least out to the drip-line is good, and even wider is better. Mulch with any good mulch - pine bark, ground hardwood, pine straw, etc. - as widely as possible, no deeper than 4", and put no mulch in the couple of inches next to the trunk. You can CAREFULLY spray the grass with Roundup to kill it before spreading the mulch, or lay down either flattened cardboard or 4-6 sheets of black-ink newspaper overlapped under the mulch to kill off the grass.

Since you are in TX it could be the root system but the dogwood should have some shade from around 2 P.M onward.

I agree that the dogwood is probably suffering from the hot afternoon sun. I would not put a dogwood in that much sun in Georgia and I'm sure that Texas is hotter.

Well it was a shot, putting it in the Texas heat, but it's survived so far... Where else could it be replanted? Won't it outgrow any shade? (sorry know nothing about trees yet...)

Do you have any shady areas? As to whether it would outgrow any shade, that depends on how big of a shade area you have. And if it did, a mature, well-established dogwood could better handle the sun than one that is just trying to establish itself.

Don't those plastic/rubber fake mulch mats heat up in the sun? Don't know if they help or hurt. I would go natural mulcj.

Was unable to pull up the photos, but your bald cypress will need at least weekly watering. Soak it thoroughly each time if possible. As they get older and established, they will develop some drought tolerance. Sometimes the roots grow while the upper tree does not.
Dogwoods need partial shade.

I would ditch the plastic. It's going to retain heat I would think. A 3" layer of mulch 2' out or so will cool the root zone, retain moisture, and decompose and thus feed soil organisms. I'm watering my 2 5' tall BC in light clay 10 gallons (5x2) a week and they are staying green. I think the spikes are pretty worthless. I would drench with seaweed or fish emulsion every two weeks to stimulate root growth. With stressed trees I have good luck spraying every two weeks with seaweed, fish emulsion, and neem oil. Basically the BC is young and stressed b/c of a drought and nearly a month of 100 degree temps; not much you can do other than water, feed, and mulch.

Didn't see the pics before. I'd also get some 20% vinegar and kill the bermuda around the tress before you mulch. Roundup if you insist. That grass is loving all that water and competing with the tree. I think you need to mulch ASAP and that is your big problem. You might layer some newspaper under the mulch as well to block the grass runners.

irisqueen,

you didn't exactly say where you live and also the type of soil you're growing them in. Also where did you get bald cypress from?

If your soil is highly alkaline soil (clay or caliche?) and you bought BC from big box store, it is probably hopeless. The eastern Texas source BC are pretty much worthless for the most part in Dallas-Ft Worth area in alkaline soil as they look like yours not really thriving at all. The central Texas source is supposedly significantly better as they have adapted to grow in alkaline soil (limestone along the river). If you have sandy red soil, then the east texas BC should do fine.

{{gwi:368925}}

I found this in Midlothian that sits on top of limestone bed rock and there are other BCs nearby that seem to have problem dealing with hot and dry summer while this nice cypress is humming along like it's nothing. Very nice green color for sure.

Another option for alkaline soil is Montezuma cypress which is evergreen/semi-evergreen sister of bald cypress from south/west Texas by the border into Mexico and New Mexico. They also grow a lot faster than BC.

Thanks for everyone's replies.

I am actually new to gardening, and discovering I need to do things like test the soil.. lol..

As for the rubber mats, and the natural mulch.. This is the first year we've tried the rubber mats, and they seem to be doing better this year, than years past. I was mainly wondering why there wasn't much above ground growth. I now see why, it's establishing roots. makes sense. :) We can't do natural mulch so the mats will have to work for now.

The bermuda grass is competing for moisture, but we pulled up the mat, cleared it out, and that seemed to help too. The stakes are working for the BC. It was a free tree we got from the city. It was one of those, "keep our cities green, have a free tree" things, and it was a baby. This is year # 2 I believe. It's greening up. I see BC all around here, and a few of them have the yellowing, and even browning, but others are wonderfully green. Sometimes right next to each other. ...

The Dogwood can't be moved. I looked all around and the only shade we'd have would be under our 14 y/o Red Oak, and too close to the house, so it will just have to tough it out, and hopefully thrive. It's made it so far!

I've taken the watering advice, and in the afternoon when the sun passes over the house, and the dogwood is shaded, I spray it down to cool it off some, and it seems to help.

Thanks again for all your advice. -Liz

Again, you didn't answer all of my questions... where exactly? What kind of soil? I am telling you that the seed source for BC may make HUGE difference because east Texas source may only cover east of I-45 or east of Trinity River where soil is acidic sandy while central Texas source would do best west of I-45 due to alkalinity of soil where it is mostly alkaline clay and caliche soil. I highly doubt your city knows what they are doing anyway. They never do....

http://books.google.com/books?id=r9qqlxIOKTwC&pg=RA1-PA483&lpg=RA1-PA483&dq=taxodium+central+texas&source=web&ots=H1xRrL7FUo&sig=BDYgGYdfLhR1wFECK_cdoqrb6H8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PRA1-PA483,M1

Curious why you can't use natural mulch??? I'm not following you. One of the best ways I know to sterilize/kill out an area is to cover it with a plastic tarp.

lou, thanks for the info. To answer your question, I have no idea. I can tell you basically nothing about the tree, since I am very new to this. As for the soil, I have yet to test the pH. I live north of I-30, West of 75 (45), South of 380, and east of 35. The soil in our yard is about a foot or 2 of top soil, and then you hit clay. Your right about the city not knowing what they're doing.. The fact that it's greening up with water, and the fert spikes tell me I am doing something right.

willy, can't use natural mulch because of a few reasons. The mower in the house doesn't like that the wind, which is basically constant here in TX, kicks it up and gets all in the yard.. There's shredded, which is what I am trying to talk him into using. Since we don't have a ring around the tree, it won't stay there very well. We've tried. We live on a corner, so the wind really is constant. If I had my say in it we would, but I can only do so much.

-Liz

It sounds like your soil is probably alkaline soil so your BC may have suffer a bit. If it's pure black soil, it's called gumbo soil. Very sticky when wet. I've seen some BCs do fine while some BCs do very poorly so I suppose it's hit or miss on this one like Shumard Red oak. That's why Central Texas source was always recommended over east Texas source for area that's not sandy acidic soil. Can you ask the city and find out where they got the BCs in the first place?

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/tamuhort.html - it's a good start for you to learn about native trees in Texas.

http://dallas.tamu.edu/ - another place that may be helpful.

I agree with Willy that natural mulch helps so much to improve the soil for trees and establish root system more quickly but I understand that it is a pain when trying to mow or use string trimmer around the mulch. That is why I'm going to get a pallet of natural border stones to do the ring around trees over the winter. I used to have stick edger attachment that works much better trimming grass runners away from the mulch area and not make much mess like string trimmer does. Now it broke and grass is starting to take over mulch again. Oh well.

I believe the bald cypress from back east have it in their gene pool to adapt to the alkaline soil of this area. But as mentioned, there is also in that gene pool a proclivity not to adapt to this soil. So its sort of a hit and miss proposition that one's tree may thrive here if they aren't sourced from this area.
The problem for most of us is that there are very few bald cypress trees available that are actually sourced from this area. The state forest service quickly ran out of theirs.

Iris, to be honest with you the water is helping the tree; the spikes are not. If they are the big thick ones all they will do is create a void when they disolve. I live in Texas not very far from you at all. This spring and summer the South winds were brutal. I have mulch on 50 young trees; it can be done.

Scotjute-

CT BC is readily available at Madrone Nursery in San Marcos. Same goes for Montezuma cypress. The price is pretty good too.

Iris, it's very hard to kill bald cypress from overwatering unlike most trees. I strongly suggest that you get greensand from Lowe's and spread them within 10 feet circle. Spread a thin layer of compost at least 3 feet circle followed by 3-4 inches of aged (not fresh) hardwood or cedar mulch so that they can break down more quickly and help improve the soil. You just have to try and keep grass out for at least several years. The larger the circle, the better. There is no need for the spikes if you fertilize the lawn.

Are you sure Dogwood can grow in your area in clay based soil? I just don't recall it being grown in this type of soil, just the sandy acidic soil in east Texas. If it doesn't work out, I strongly recommend Texas WHITE redbud. It has white spring flowers and I thought it looked good.

Lou, dogwood grows just fine in the acidic clay soils around here. I don't now remember if dogwoods NEED acid soil, but it's late, I'm tired, and I am not going to start sorting through books, so will let someone else answer that. But clay, per se, is not a problem for dogwoods, in my experience.

Apparently dogwood does need acidic soil. Check the link. I just don't hear anyone talk about dogwood at all when it comes to alkaline soil over in Texas gardening forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dogwood

I don't think the Dogwood looks all that bad really. The BC looks worse. Put out some greensand, mulch, water, and add some natural goodies and I think the DW would be ok.