I'm very sorry to hear about this bad experience. With the lack of jobs and the economy, suddenly there's a lot of "landscapers" out there looking for work online. I've tried dealing with some of them and they may be well intentioned and ready to work but they really don't know the first thing about landscaping or even good cultural practices. The ones that do... they aint advertising online. Here's what you need to know so that this doesn't happen again. -->Know what to plant that's appropriate for the site. Doublecheck online or here for opinions before plants are selected. -->Know how to plant properly the first time and supervise. In the south, digging ends pretty much by the end of March. If it aint dug by then, hold off until the trees drop leaves and harden off in winter or in the case of evergreens, wait until the deciduous trees do this. Evergreens in general are harder to transplant. -->Do not plant during the summer, especially if you can't water daily until established. -->Even if someone has good feedback/reviews online, ask for references and go see actual projects that they have completed and go by and look at them and try to talk to the owner to verify. If you can't find any that appear to know how to plant a tree, or they are all super expensive, that's ok... just find someone who is receptive to your input and does not claim to be an expert that already knows how to do it. It sounds like the underlying issue here is that you took a cold climate tree and tried to grow it in the south. Then your gardener tried to monkey with it in the heat. Then dug it up again and replanted it. That's enough to kill even a well adapted plant let alone a norway spruce.

gw, this has not a thing to do with what may be presently ailing your NS, but amending backfill soil is not really necessary nor even desirable. Two things: First, doing so can cause drainage anomalies whereby the texture of the backfill soil around that new transplant differs greatly from the surrounding stuff. This can lead to the backfill stuff staying saturated too much and can even cause the opposite, the soil right around the transplant drying too quickly. And secondly, in order to successfully colonize their new homes, transplanted trees need to generate roots.....lots of roots. And it is important that these roots get on out of that little area where backfill has been placed. Making this little area too rich or friable can retard this process and even if it doesn't, there is no benefit in the long-term to this adjustment of what will eventually be but a tiny part of that tree's eventual rooting zone. Having said all that, amending a large area (If the soil needs it or can use it) can indeed be helpful. The thing is, this could easily be an entire yard. +oM

I read that some browning underneath is normal ==>> what you should have read was that INTERIOR yellowing and browning is normal ... it is cyclical .. increased by stress ... like planting... weather.. etc ... no evergreen of any kind.. holds its leaves/needles forever .. and its the older one that fall off.. and are from a few years back.. and as the plant grew out... they are interior ... though it may be hard to see such with this form of plant ... the sun issue is irrelevant ... mine was in sun.. and now its in a lot of bright shade ... what is your base soil.. have you ever perked it ... how does it drain?? what catches my eye ... is why there is grass under the plant.. how big a hole did you dig ... exactly the size of the pot??? or BB??? ... did you do any root untangling or surgery??? see link about proper watering ... and many other issues ... including proper planting time.. which you hit spot on ... and in tree time.. you have all fall to fix stuff ... btw... welcome to the forums... but plz go back to your members page.. and add your location.. or you will be asked in every post ... double btw.. where are you .. lol ... [note that plantkiller speaks of freeze ... does it freeze for you?... does the soil freeze solid???] finally .. insert finger and find out when the soil is drying an inch or two down .. and ONLY water.. when the soil needs watering .. it is all dependent on your soil.. not some random schedule .... nor can we tell you how it works in your soil .... finally ... just moving it from one place to your place.. with this big a plant.. can cause damage .... nbd usually ... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Unfortunately there was a reason it was the last one at Home Depot at a really good price. It has been in the pot WAY too long, is terribly root bound, was not trained properly prior to you getting it, has sat in the pot for weeks with you, ants have moved into the root ball and made a nest...the plant has been stressed for a long time and is more susceptible to disease and pests. And now it is even hotter than when you first posted. So my advice to you would be plant it as soon as possible (yesterday) and keep it well watered going into the winter, and hope for the best.