Dear micadams, I don't know about your specific tree, but I use natural water for my trees,(no chlorine or other anti-bacterial chemicals, chlorine is an acid!) i catch rain water in a clean plastic bucket, (not water from a roof drip!) I place my bucket in the open where water from the sky is all that enters it. Also, let mother nature help, i put 2 earthworms in each pot 2 worms will mate and keep their species continuing. I have had similar problems with my trees,First,remove your tree from it's pot and wash the soil away from the roots,(natural water)Second soak the roots in a mixture of natural water and miracle grow for a couple of days,Away from direct sun light, then re-pot with new soil. Also, sunlight doesn't mean put it in a window where the sun shines directly on it. You can close the blinds and let the light defuse through to your tree. Sometimes, keep it in the dark for 2 or 3 days, this will cause the tree to "strive" for life and encourage growth of new leaves to help with photosynthesis. All life wants to live, to make a person hungry, deprive him of food for a short time, he will then eat heartily. Same with trees!

Are you watering near the trunk?. It needs to be watered away from the trunk at the area around the edge of the branches. Also in summer (usually in July )when it hits 100+ temps elm goes into heat stres and few leaves turn yellow and drop off, its normal. Search this forum by keyword "elm" you will see lot of posts regarding yellow leaves.

I purchased a 36" boxed Chinese Elm from Whitfills Nursery back in April. At first, some of the leaves were turning yellow and falling off but after about one month that stopped and I had green leaves and new growth. Recently the leaves started turning brown at the tips and edges including the tips of some of the new growth. Also some leaves are turing yellow as before. My watering schedule is 6 hours once a week using (4) 2GPH drips. I have asked Whitfalls and also Moon Valley for a watering schedule and neither can seem to provide one, they say: just make sure the water is getting down to the roots. Gee thanks. Any help would be appreciated or if anyone knows a good Arborist that I could hire. I live in Chandler, AZ Thanks

In general, I would like to be able to tell you that you cannot overwater, being in the dry SW. But generalizations get one in trouble and since I'm not standing there looking at the situation, I could easily lead you down the wrong path. So, a couple other thoughts: First, has any construction work been performed in the general area of this tree recently? I see thin foliage at the tree's top and that is often a sign of root system damage. So, has any heavy equipment been in the area, any holes or trenches dug for anything? Second, if you would, take a close look at the bark up and down that portion of the trunk you can see from the ground. Look for tiny holes. some insects lay eggs in trees, usually just under the bark, and then when the larvae hatch and later pupate, they form exit holes. These holes are often shaped like the letter "D" but not always, and can be quite tiny, depending on species of insect. Now I'm not saying there is a borer of some type working the tree over, just that we want to be able to rule that out. Any other signs of symptoms? Any small piles of sawdust-looking material at the base of the tree? I'm still mining (bu dum bum) the same territory-that of borer insects. But that does not mean your tree has this problem. Finally, assuming no insect issue is identified, please refrain from blindly applying "some pesticide" to the tree, in the hope of somehow magically hitting the right target. It just doesn't work that way. Tree pests are often quite specific in their tastes, so one really needs to know what they're dealing with. Do pay attention to water management though. This means that if things are too dry in your locale for proper tree health, it may be time to water, keeping in mind that a tree of this size has roots running all over the place, not in some neat little bundle right next to the base of the trunk! One really needs to water the yard to water their trees. Refrain from any fertilizer use as that can stress the plant out even more. Then let us know what happens down the road. +oM