I have a 'Diane' (the contorted variety) and have noticed that the needles on the ends of all the branches are only barely starting to break bud. The inside/lower areas seem ok, but all the ends appeared dead. I contained myself from pruning them off to see if they will come out of it. It appears they are, but very slowly. No browning, though.

I transplanted the tree last year (about 8' tall, 3' wide...about 6 years old) and it seemed to transplant well. It sulked for a short while, then perked back up last summer. I thought that perhaps the transplant last year caused my 'Diane' to die back this year, but I've noticed that our cold/wet Spring seems to have caused a setback in a lot of trees in my neighborhood...including Sweetgums, some Red Maples and most Pin Oaks...all of which seem to be just barely putting on their leaves just now.

Thanks for sharing your observations. Patience will pay off for you, I hope, and more needles will emerge green.

My tree was gorgeously green in late April, top to bottom, and is now turning almost completely brown. Even little spurts of new growth on the limbs turn brown in a week or so.

I've done nothing different to it EXCEPT I did toss some rhodie fertilizer (which had micronutrients -- A brand called VAP) around it mid-spring. I'll have to pull out the label this evening and post its contents. Maybe some part of the fertilizer was toxic to larch???