Probably a bit of stress. The top branches are the important ones, as long as they stay green and healthy, it'll be OK. The low branches are the most expendable, as they don't get much light to don't contribute much energy to the tree. Even if it wasn't stressed, they'd probably get shaded out and die off fairly soon anyway, the stress is just speeding this up a little.

Resin

where are you ... city, state and zone

what is the soil type

when was it planted or last dug

did you have a hard winter

ken

I find that excessive interior needle loss is common with these cultivars when they go from the pot to ground.

Like resin said stress as a result of going through an adjustment time...sometimes up to two years.

Dave

thanx all. Correction on the name....its a "Pinus Pumila Blue Dwarf
Ken, I'm in Highland, IN , suburb of Chicago. Zone 5A i believe. Soil is all newer black dirt from landscape center that was put in last year when the pond was put in. Its up alittle on a burm around on of the ponds streams. It was put in the ground about a month ago, I bought it in a pot from Rich's foxwillow. So our winter was hard this past year, but i did'nt have it then. As you can tell in the first pic it looked better when i bought it, that was in late April, and it got planted about around begining of May. I added some coarse torpedo sand to the mix for better drainage.
I think I should raise him up alittle, seeing as that area may stay alittle soggy, not "soaking wet" but "soggy"
What are youre guys thoughts if I raise him up alittle ? Will that be hard on him ?
Resin, Dave, you thinking this is normal ? I got some really nice rare White pine this year, about 8 of em and this is the only one showing these symptoms........

If it stays soggy, or even damp you definately want to raise it up or consider a new spot. It needs to dry out a bit sometimes and that could very well be the cause of the browning.

tj

if the soggy soil is to blame is it too late for the whole tree if it has already suffered like it has ? I'm just wondering the chances for a plant when those conditions occur and we rectify them.....

If branch tip foliage is green and establishing new growth you still have a viable plant.

If you suspect conditions are to wet rectify the concern. Raise it up...no harm done.

Still... interior growth browning out and dropping is a natural occurrence for these cultivars. Will slow down some what after plant establishes itself.

Dave

I'm going to raise it up Dave, I really want it in the area that its in, and it just seems mabey the stream from the pond is running down into the area somehow making the soil wetter. I'll put some more sand in there ??? And make a burm with the sand and topsoil.
Today when i was cleaning off some of the dead needles I pulled off some whole branches, they were smaller ones , but i thought it was strange how they pulled off so easily. Its seems this cultivar has really really soft flexible branches, and softer bark. Should I be worried that these smaller limbs were detaching when i was pulling off the needles ? The larger main tips all look ok and green, but I do not think there is any more current growth as his candles already came out earlier.....

here is a pic of where it sits, just in front of the red Jap maple. Notice that there is a stream that winds behind it that ties in with the other stream. I think that may be where my problem is coming from

Wow!

Beautiful layout. I can see why you're reluctant to move the tree. It does look good there. Is the soil consistantly moist between the tree and the stream above it? If so, you would need to A)Raise the tree above that water level or it would never dry out no matter how good the drainage B)Divert the water thats seeping downhill or C) Fix the leak.

tj

It does seem pretty moist all the time......even after i put my coarse sand into the mix. Youre right, I think probley the easiest thing would be to raise the tree above the water level. But would that be a problem for this tree then in the winter ?? temp. wise.

I'd leave it after seeing that photo. Call it normal transplant shock and watch and wait. The tree should be happy that it's moist right now after only one month.

My first impression from the photos above were that it is going to die a slow death, however. You may just end up losing branches. Something's not right and I'd put it on the root system if I were taking bets. Whatever the problem, it's effecting a lot of branches. I think you're dealing with a plant that may recover in a few years but that certainly might just die outright.

I've seen too many like that go. Are the needles at the tips drying at all/dying? That would be concern to move immeditately.

Dax

I agree with Dax as far as the root system goes. If you do decide to raise it up, check the roots. I'm guessing this is an Iseli conifer that was grown in a #6 pot. Often the root mass is so dense in these pots that there is little to no growing media left in the center of the pot. What is left is usually just fir bark. This can create a dry dead spot in the center of the rootball if the the roots aren't completely teased out before planting in native soil. You can actually have roots that are wet around the periphery and bone dry in the middle. Good luck, I hope it works out for you. You're pond and garden are absolutely beautiful.

Dan

thanx all, I pulled the tree out, put it in a pot. I dug the area out very good, way larger hole than needed. I'm going to plan on trying to lighten it up with the coarse sand and topsoil mix in the hole. Then on top of that I'll raise it up some and replant....... I have lost some of those lower inner branches.......I'm hoping it stops there.

Keep the potted plant in partial shade/sun (east facing, under a shade tree) all this year. You can feed it lightly with 1/2 or so recommended concentration of mir-acid every couple weeks. Those two things should help tremendously. Top soil, cancel that. The stuff is gooey. You want a real lightweight mix and adding peat moss is a better alternative. You can add your sand too. If you have clay, do not ever add sand, just the peat and compost's. Top soil is good for filling in a hole in the lawn, per say.
Also, and lastly, you should remove by hand all damaged needles as this is only taking away from the plant natural ability to regenerate damaged growth. And remove those dead branches, always.

Take care,

Dax

So are you saying to plant it then in the fall ??
I would'nt say that I'm clay, it was black dirt that was brought in. What would you use for a soil mix here ? Sand, pine bark chips ? what about for organics ?

When you lifted the tree out, what did the roots look like? Too much or too little water? How about the bottom of the hole-was it damp, soaked, bone-dry? As for hardiness of the tree, Pinus pumila is hardy to zone 4, maybe colder. This could very well be just transplant shock and a wait and see tactic would be best. But if it is a water issue (too much or, as Dan suggested, too little) then you would want to correct it. In trying to get a better feel for pumila culture I see they often grow with alders and willow, plants I associate with dampness, so perhaps they can tolerate it better than most pines.

tj

the roots did'nt look "wet bad" The hole wasnt saturated. But prior to pulling it out I was pulling dirt around the base of it back some to kinda dry it out. But I did notice that it was alittle wetter there. The stream that went behind it mabey was splashing up into the area all the time perhaps. Either way the spot it was in needs to be fixed. I dug out the hole deep and very wide. Plan on filling with coarse sand and some other organic material.....any ideas ??? I also think i may have fix the stream, I piled more pea gravel against that part it was running by thus channeling the water away from the part where it may have been splashing up.