In terms of the foliage I don't see anything that looks bad - feel the tips and see if they are fresh and live.

It takes decades but this produces a tree of some size - site accordingly. Also your example should be pruned to have a single trunk.

Plants rarely look their best immediately after being removed from the shipping box. Give it some time to recover and adjust before making too many judgments about it. If you know where it is going plant it.

the plant in the pic ... is one of those conifers with weeping looking leaders.. and you wonder if the thing will ever grow upright ... but.. as you watch it over the years.. it does .. and you wonder how ...somehow or another.. it just keeps getting taller ...

is that what you are wondering about???

i also noted how close to the hosue the pic was ..... i hope you just put it that close to the house in the pot for the pic ... it will need more space ..

you can also tell the annual growth .. by bark color and maturation.. each year of growth working from the tip back ... and if you look at it long enough.. you can tell what year the stems/branches start thickening and straightening ... i can see the color change in the first pic ...

plant it.. give it space.. and just watch it .. in tree time

all trees releader .. so if there is actually something wrong with the tips.. it will work it out.. in tree time... a few years ...

ken

Thank you for your responses/comments. I planted the tree yesterday. My primary concern was the significant discoloration of the main leader (as evidenced in the second photo posted). Following Embothrium's suggestion, I felt the tips, and they were rather flexible. But given I'm dealing with a conifer, I hope they are gradually recovering and not the other way around...

Also, I examined the tree once again before planting it. To be honest, the multi-trunk structure looks very odd. Is there a nursery trick (chemical treatment or what not) to push these plants to become multi-trunk so they look fuller t retail locations? Per your advice, I'm planning to trim the non-primary trunks. Do you suggest that I do it this year? Or, should I wait a bit so that the plant gets more established at its new location? My guess is that those non-primary trunks likely account for ~35-40% of its total foliage...

Ken, to answer to your question/concern, This tree is 6 feet apart from the foundation now.

Over the decades slow growing 'Gracilis' becomes as much as 40' tall, with a proportionate crown spread, does not remain open and partly narrow once it grows beyond nursery sizes (unless shaded). An historic courthouse in the county north of mine had two that had gotten to the point where they might even had been called majestic - only for them to disappear within the last few years. If the stumps are still there I should go see how far across they are. (After we aren't supposed to be driving around outside of our immediate area, because of the pandemic).

If it were mine I would cut off at least one of the secondary trunks on yours immediately.