Here is the majority of the browning/yellowing at the bottom of the tree where it lays on the mulch.

Slight needle yellowing/browning on the crowning tip.

Any advice out there?

A couple things stand out.

Yellowing occurs with too much water-(retention).
When planting the tree - no more than 1/3 organic matter should be used unless your soil is beyond horrific.

You should check for spider mites - hold a piece of white paper under the yellowing foliage and bang it onto the paper and look for tiny bugs crawling about.

I have a hunch it's water related, however.

When a hole is dug and the backfill used is compost a bathtub effect is created. Additionally, long term if the roots were to take a liking to different organic matter apart from your native soil.. they will wind and wind themselves in the "better" media and won't grow into native soil, ultimately causing death.

It seems (at least to me) that you used full compost when re-planting. That's not a good situation. .05 .05 .05 seems to be the NPK numbers; Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium, which don't have any effect. It's the amount of composted manure used during planting.

Dax

Hi Dax,

Thanks for your advice! It was planted will full compost and some of the native soil. We have pure red clay here and I haven't had much success with it. Pretty much everything else I have planted has done great with the compost.

Do you suggest that we take it out and replant it? And if so, with what mixture of soil(s)? I don't want to stress it out any more than necessary, but I don't want it to die either.

Thanks again!

How is it doing?
Did you decide to replant it?

I briefly hesitated planting it in this heat, but the price was too good to pass up.

==>> for next time...

just because you buy it... does not mean its time to plant it ...

ergo.. your comment above doesnt make sense ...

next time.. buy it.. put in shade.. water properly.. and plant it during planting season.. rather than bargain season ...

ken

To Timmypuppy in case you get to read this. The same thing happened to me when i put mulch in. All of a sudden the skirts of my newly planted weeping norway spruce, weeping the blues spruce & thorsen's hemlock all turned brown where their leaves touch the mulch. These were planted 2 weeks prior to the mulch. They were all doing fine but the day after the mulch, it looked exactly like the first picture you posted. I suspect something in the dye that they use to color this mulch are not good when they get in contact with conifer needles. i got my mulch from lowes & this happened this may.

how to plant and water .. big section on clay soils ... as well as discussion on timing aspects ... ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub