Too much water maybe? In the pic your soil looks pretty wet. Have you been giving it more water since it was potted up. How often? Is there a drainage hole in the pot?

Hi thanks for ur response, no not really we usually jus let the rain take care of that and don't really do much more ourselved. I watered it before the pic cause I tried to re pot it and raise the pot off the floor a little to help with drainage..

It looks like what is called a lemon-lime cypress (because of the citrus scent of the foliage), Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' or 'Wilma Goldcrest'. This is a very popular container plant.

When growing plants in a container, there are some important issues to consider: Fast drainage is key. Plant roots sitting in soggy soils will rapidly develop into root rots. So you need a properly sized container with a decently sized drainage hole(s) and filled with a very textural, barky and durable potting mix. No rubble, gravel or pot shards on the bottom - they impede rather than improve drainage.

Second, you can't rely on just natural rainfall, even in winter or during your rainy season. There is very little real estate in a container for that rainfall to come into contact with - compared to ground soil - and that is complicated by it being on a balcony and not out in the open. You want to water whenever the top few inches of the container soil feels dry. And thoroughly, until the water runs freely out the drainage at the base of the container. And then don't water again until the soil feels dry.

And finally, container potting mix carries no real nutrient load like garden soil does. To get what the plant needs for healthy growth, fertilizer must be applied by the gardener. You can use a controlled release fertilizer (like Osmocote) once or twice a season or you can use any liquid soluble fertilizer and water it in monthly.

The pot size looks good for that sized plant so I would look to your potting mix and your watering practices. To me, the plant looks dried out. But over watering or a potting mix that is too water retentive (and many are) will produce a similar appearance. Based on your care description, I'm going with lack of water :-)

OK that's great thanks very much for that resoonse, seems like we need to water a bit more frequently and take the gravel out of the bottom of the pot , the guy in the shop said that would help drainage but apparently not! Will see how we get on hopefully we can save it!

No, gravel in the bottom is good - compost may need changing, and better watering is advisable. The bottom of the plant may not recover quickly though, although top growth should be better.