Don't worry about the main plant, it will put on new growth soon. Make sure the plant is warm & in good light. You needn't worry about where you cut a scheff back. Leaving foliage on a particular stem is unnecessary. Scheffs retain large amounts of photosynthesizing tissues in stems & produce new leaves & roots quite readily. Stem tip cuttings with all but one or two leaves removed will root quickly in perlite or a porous soil w/o the aid of a rooting hormone. Place cuttings in bright light, but not direct sun. Ideal soil temp about 70* F. Taking tip cuttings will also stimulate back-branching on that stem. You can also cut a portion of stem into 1-1/2 - 2 inch leafless pieces & just lay them atop a moist soil in bright light where they will root. Al

Wichita is kind of a quirky place to plant trees. Some areas have moderately alkaline clay soil which can be difficult to plant in, while most of the city(and suburbs) have slightly acidic to neutral soils with a clay-loam soil where many trees thrive, and other parts have sandy neutral soils which can be difficult to plant in because they dry out so fast. It sounds like to me that the original poster might have the first type of soil I mentioned. If so, their planting site would either need to be planted with a tougher more drought(and heat) tolerant tree than the ones planted so far or the entire area(at least a 20'-25' circle IMHO) would need some serious amending(lots and lots of organic material, preferably acidic organic material, like pine mulch, etc.) to accommodate the needs of a Sourwood tree. Even with that, I wouldn't think a Sourwood tree would thrive. I've grown or should I say tried to grow Sourwood trees on several occasions and they have never done very well here. It seems they struggle with our hot summers, especially days when we have a dry heat(about 1/4 to 1/3 of the time here in Eastern KS, but more frequent in the Wichita area). It also seems they want a more acid soil than what I had planted them in(pH of about 5.7). I've had a Sourwood tree grow little more than 6" over a 7 or 8 year period(and that's with lots of babying) and have never seen one much larger than about 7' tall anywhere in Western MO or in KS, so I really think they don't like our climate. (If someone knows of one larger in this area, I'd like to know!) Also, there are many Korean Dogwoods growing well in the Wichita area, but they aren't generally in the areas with the neutral to slightly alkaline hard clay soils and the ones that are in those areas are either in raised beds or highly amended soil.(again lots and lots of acidic organic material mixed in with the native soil) Soooo....I would say your Sourwood tree is likely to die and that another choice of a tougher tree would be a much better choice. If this tree is warrantied by the nursery, I'd take them up on it and ask for a different tree kind of tree. I'd recommend a Texas Redbud(Cercis reniformis, or some people still like Cercis canadensis var. reniformis). The cultivar 'Oklahoma' is a very nice one which seems to thrive in KS and takes much tougher soil conditions than a Sourwood or even a Korean Dogwood. Or you could go with the Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) which also does well in KS. It gets a bit larger than the Texas Redbud and often it's flowers are a lighter shade of lavender-purple than Texas Redbud and it's leaves have a dull leaf surface vs. Texas Redbud's glossy leaf surface(I think the glossy leaves look more ornamental). Another choice could be the Mexican Plum(Prunus mexicana). It's native to most all of Eastern KS (as close as Eastern Butler County), flowers with nice white fragrant flowers in spring, has somewhat interesting bark, decent yellow fall color, produces edible plums, and is relatively tough and drought tolerant. It also doesn't sucker like other plums and grows as a nice single trunk small tree. It also seems to have good disease resistance so it's leaves don't become ratty and battered looking by late summer, like some native plums. Or, if you want more ideas, you should go down to the wonderful botanic garden in Wichita called Botanica (near Old Cowtown and Sim Park Golf Course). They have loads of nice small trees and could give you many other ideas for your spot and maybe some free advice on any potential problems with your site. Good luck! A link to Old Cowtown Museum for anyone curious to what Old Cowtown in Wichita is Here is a link that might be useful: Botanica, Botanic Garden in Wichita(one of the best small Botanic Gardens I've been to)

With the size hole you made and the soil you filled it with, what you have done is created a "clay pot" the size of that hole; but a "pot" that has no drainage. Your roots will simply fill up the new "pot" and then stop growing; the stark difference between the mix in the hole and the surrounding clay in terms of pH, density, etc. will never encourage the roots to grow into the clay. If it were mine, I would dig it up, make a hole at least 2 feet deep and two feet wider than the dripline of the tree. Backfill that with a mix of your soil amendment with the native clay (1/3 amendment and 2/3 clay); that will give you a better shot at success. I would certainly do the drain test described above; and if the drainage is poor or non-existent, you might have to make the hole significantly larger.

need to know where you are.. how big is it.. when was it planted ... and for you to compare PINE CONES to oak acorns on google pix ... or pine pollen sacs it has been two hard winters in a row ... we have to rule that out first.. interior yellowing is a normal cycle.. no plant holds its evergreen needles forever ... if its normal shedding.. its not hungry ... if its something else.. its not hungry.. its stressed .. food wont help ... and i doubt its a watering issue ... unless there was a severe drought last summer ... we need a pic ken