I have a newly planted Magnolia

==>> how big.. potted or burlapped.. how planted.. how watered ... and any other pertinent info ... im betting on transplant shock ...

in your pix.. i see one woolly aphid remnant ... i see no scale .. and i really dont understand how you just planted infected stock??? .. what does the seller say about such???

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=woolly+aphid&t=ffcm&iax=1&ia=images

The tree is about 6 feet, it was potted when arrived. Sorry for creating confusion. By saying "just planted" i meant in the spring. I actually planted it in april. Before that it was inside in the original pot for a fee weeks. It was dormant when arrived. I planted it instead of an old big crape myrtle that had been removed a month prior to planting. The soil was clay-ish mixed with the chips from the crape myrtle stump, so I had to remove a lot of soil and mix some existing soil with the top soil. No fertilizer. Bark mulch. Watered 2-3 times a week about half gallon. It is pretty hot here in nc these days. I noticed a few times the leaves started to look drying out so I increased the watering frequency. But at the same time cannot water it too much as I am afraid of the root rot.

I do think it may be aphid but what about the dark spots? What is the best way to treat both? And should I change anything in the overall watering/treatment?

Water much less frequently but for a longer duration - a half gallon of water is nothing for new tree planted in the ground!! Most of what you are seeing is just drought stress. Put your hose at the root ball and let the water slowly trickle out for 20-30 minutes or so. Wait to do so again until the top 4 inches or so of the soil is dry.

I see nothing obvious that needs to be treated. Spray the tree down thoroughly, including the underside of the leaves, with a strong stream of water - that should get rid of the aphids. If the leaves start to brown further or begin to drop heavily, come back and repost.

Thanks guys for your responses. So during the last 3 months, the leaves have been getting uglier slowly. Many dropped but there are still many left. All of the remaining leaves look like this now.

I assume the tree is close to going dormant for the winter. It did form the buds so I am less concerned about the leaves. The thing is - some of the buds also look brownish (see the last pic), this is especially noticeable on the bigger buds - presumably the flower ones. Is this normal or can anything be done here?