Are they in the ground? If so when were they planted? Have you watered them at all?

Sorry for the limited information. They are in pots. The ones I planted in the ground are doing just fine. I have watered these recently, but I don't think I watered enough which may be the problem. Thanks!

You got it man, not enough water or, too much.

Dax

Thanks Dax. That's what I figured. It has been hot here lately and I must not have been giving them enough. Hmmmm

It looks like lack of water to me. At least, that's what happens to my bald cypress seedlings in the containers if I don't provide water. When it's 95*F or hotter, I have to water them every day. That's all summer long...

Thanks! I figured that's whats wrong. I'll be giving them lots of water now....

What is the container mix like? I use Al's mix from Container forum. Trees sure thrive in that mix unlike the ones I tried at first. I had to accept the fact that heavy earthy soil will not work in the container and start using porous light container mix consisting of 5 parts pine bark, 1 part peat moss and 1 part turface/zeolite/expanded shale/etc/. The worst part is having to water often during the summer but they will grow like weeds.

These tree have been potted in regular Miracle Gro soil for about 2 years and have been growing amazingly, this is the first time it has happened. They are severely rootbound as well. I know that I need to do something about that.....sometime....

Ryan!
You know better than to go two years in bagged potting soil! ;)
Are you providing some form of shade for the containers? How large are the containers?

Josh

Haha I know. I really need to fix that. Can't repot now though. They are in somewhat shade during half of the day, since we have our Sun Setter open. The containers are huge. I can provide a pic if that will help any. I'm sure it will :)

Yes, a pic will help!

If you can, slip the whole container into an even larger container full of bark.

Josh

Here you go:

Sick tree:

Healthy tree:

Ryan

Those white containers are nice, actually.
And handsome trees, too.

Are the containers draining properly?

Josh

Thanks Josh! The containers do drain pretty well. I should probably take the lids on the bottom (that catch the water) off, however. Just so extra water doesn't get stuck in there.

Yes, remove those when you water.
Let the pots sit and drain for twenty minutes, then put the trays back on if you want.

Any sign of mechanical/physical damage on the affected tree?

Josh

Thanks Josh. There are no signs of damage on the tree at all.

Well the trees did recover, but I recently went on vacation and oh boy. I came back and now both trees seem to be suffering from this. It looks like too much water. I stripped whole branches of their leaves. They were so brittle. But, there are green buds where the leaves used to be, so that's a good sign.

Not sure what you really expect. You have gotten the trees to do quite well in the pots. The potting soil probably dries out totally, and the summer heat doesn't help. Seems like the trees will start to get too big anyway soon. Trying to find the balance of wet enough but not too dry or wet is a probably with many "houseplants".

Since you have two you could experiment with bonsai type ideas. But that may be with some radical top and root prunning, if you can stand to mutilate a tree like that.

Funny you mention bonsai trees. I have tons of them, so I'm used to the whole mutilating thing :)

I've got tons of them, not just these two. I may attempt to bonsai this species sometime in the near future.

our red dawnwood has been planted in the ground for 5 years and every year has come back until this year. in late fall it losses all its leaves but they come back in late spring. the tree is about 30foot tall. this year the branches are brittle and no foliage has come on. is there anything i can do?/

Quite odd Carol. Another member over in the tree forum posted a similar problem.

All you can really do is wait and hope. Prime planting season is over so you have till the fall until you can replace it.

What part of the country are you in? Any chance a late frost killed the buds and perhaps branch tips?