#1 dogwoods grow in full sun, they are naturally understory trees and do a little better in partial shade so no problem.

#2 Mulch shouldn't be up against the trunk, needs to be at least 2 inches away to prevent rot.

#3. NEVER amend the soil! Most dogwoods easily grow in clay, in fact I have 3 doing well.

#4 Did you loosen the roots at all ? You didn't mention it. If not, you need to loosen the roots when replanting.

Overall, you need to dig it out in winter plant it properly loosening the roots and backfilling with at least 90% native clay. You can move it to a different spot if you prefer, but is not necessary.

"I try to water this once a week, usually allowing a hose to soak the roots 20-30 minutes"

You have to understand that the frequency of watering and the amount of time spent doing so says nothing about how much water is actually penetrating the rootball and getting to where it needs to be. Dig down a few inches with your fingers and feel for moisture. Plus, if the roots were not loosened previous to planting you could have a very tight wad of roots down there that has formed a mass that can actually repel water.

That said all of my Cornus floridas look a bit droopy right now- that's just how they look in late summer. This includes natives in the woods as well as named varieties that I purchased. Half the time it's from heat stress and the other half from heavy rains saturating the soil. As long as I am seeing new growth I try not to worry too much about them.

You haven't said where you are, or how alkaline is alkaline, the pH value.

Your tree looks about right for this time of year. Mine look that way, and some are c. 40 yo.

The problem will be when the roots get into the native soil, dogwoods barely tolerate neutral soils and turn up their toes in alkaline soils. Treating the soil to increase acidity gets old fast. Future doesn't look all that good.

Wow, thanks for the wealth of info here.

I'm im southeastern PA - zone 7a.

I did loosen the roots when planted. The active growing early on seemed like the plant was happy and healthy.

Understand the time spent watering is a poor measure of amount of water, or where. I wouldn't call myself a green thumb, but I do maintain a lush, green lawn throughout the year and a modestly landscaped front of house; hoping that knowledge has at least translated into me being able to adequately water this tree when it needs it.

I have been assuming it's in need of more given the look of the leaves and that they feel very dry, but I could totally be misreading this. I was getting mixed signals at first as most of the browning was occurring at the tips which I took to mean over saturated...

Ill need to remeasure the pH levels of my soil. I'm using a rather cheap 3-in-1 soil meter. It was all the way to the left of the gauge, seemingly maxed out. I think the gauge reads up to 9 or 10.

Sounds like while I shouldn't necessarily panic about this tree right now, it very well may not stand he test of time in this location. Bummer, but that's what I get for not doing my research. Will be sure to find a more suitable tree should this fail to thrive.

Thanks again for the help everyone.

If your pH was actually 10, there wouldn't be anything green in your picture.

Send off a soil sample to your extension service, but I doubt that in your location basic soil is an issue. Maybe a few pockets of alkaline, similar to TN, but on the whole I believe PA is mostly acid.

Judging by what you've said, I believe your main issue was lack of water, along with some cosmetic leaf issues. Keep the tree moist the rest of this season and next growing season, and I'll bet your dogwood will be just fine.

Reassuring advice. I'll start on top of watering and strongly consider a real soil sample. Thanks everyone.

Logan!!! You can't post under two identites!

Based on soil tests I had done around Philly, the native pH is probably somewhere in the low 5's. I'd be more concerned about the 'proper planting soil', whatever that is.

Regarding the watering, unless you dig out there with a trowel, it is very hard to know if the problem is too little water or too much. I could be either. When both the temperature and the humidity are off the charts, nothing evaporates. So you can get situations where it has been in the 90's for weeks, with no rain, but the soil is still moist.

rhizo, just logged into my other gw account. I am leaving the other intact, for customer reviews.