Larger trees do not establish as quickly as smaller trees. Larger trees are also more likely to be root/pot bound which slows roots moving into the surrounding soil. What is happening with the soil moisture may not be as important as what is happening with the potted tree's root ball moisture level. The surrounding soil may be wet and the root ball could be bone dry. How well it was planted also matters. Too high, too deep, backfilled with amendments? They all matter.

Hi Christopher, Thanks for the feedback. I dug the whole about a six inches wider on each side and use new potting soil with the fertilizer both as recommended by the nursery. They said if the leaves turn brown it is too much water and if they turned yellow it would meant too little. If you click on the picture you can see how it was planted with the top of the root ball about an inch above the ground level. The root ball was huge, they said it weighed about 300lbs and was in burlap which they told me not to remove.

Planted and watered as described I would suspect the maple dried up. Much less chance you created a bath tub effect and drowned the thing. Stick your moisture meter in the root ball through the burlap and you will get your answer.

To save the tree you will have to dig it up and replant it along the lines of the instructions above. Resume normal watering. It is now summer and hot. If the tree is still alive there is enough time left for it to resprout. That may be lower down on the branches depending on the amount of dieback.

Thanks, I did remove the burlap on top about a week after planting, but not the sides. I can easily remove it from the sides without digging it up. Here is a better picture

. You could see the meter shows the root ball still being very moist.

Water meters are notoriously unreliable/inaccurate. To know for sure, dig down and test the rootball soil with your fingers to correctly judge the soil moisture.

It is definitely moist to the touch with my fingers.

All you can do now is to water as necessary, infrequently when you do but long and slowly so the water penetrates the full depth of the rootball.

And for future reference, planting a tree of that size is best done when fully dormant or about to go dormant........anywhere from late fall through to very early spring. Never in summer. And realize that the larger the tree is, the longer it will take to regenerate a healthy root system and establish in your garden. Unless specifically spec'd at that size by municipal authorities or an HOA, I never recommend to clients to plant a tree that large. The risk of failure is much higher and the dollar cost significant.

Thanks for the information. There isn't any HOA, its just my backyard. I had assumed transplanting a larger tree would be better because it is more established. I appreciate all the feedback.

"I had assumed transplanting a larger tree would be better because it is more established."

It ls really the opposite :-) Establishment happens only after planting and leaving in place and as stated previously, the larger the tree at planting time, the longer it will take to establish. In fact, field trials have determined that younger, smaller trees establish so much faster that they will often match or exceed the size of the larger tree in just a couple of growing seasons! And they are so much easier to plant and tend and so much less expensive as well.

I really have to wonder if you are in fact over watering it, and it's dropping leaves because it is drowning. Backfilling with non-native soil products creates a "bathtub effect". It's also possible high fertilizer salts are contributing as well. It's a shame that nurseries give out such bad advice as "fertilize when planting" for trees & shrubs. (ok for veggies!) Difficult to say what to do now...as GG noted, you've broken a lot of rules. I suspect if you actually cut the burlap and dug into the rootball, you'd find it very moist indeed.

Some parts of PA have had above normal rainfall for the past 8 weeks:

https://water.weather.gov/precip/index.php?analysis_date=1624752000&lat=41.0830811201&location_name=CONUS_+_Puerto_Rico&location_type=us&lon=-77.9596203613&precip_layer=0.65&product=departure&recent_type=today&rfc_layer=-1&state_layer=1&hsa_layer=-1&county_layer=-1&time_frame=last60days&time_type=recent&units=eng&zoom=7&domain=current

I got the guidance on how to plant this tree from the owner of a nursery that sells perhaps 1000 trees a year. Please help me understand which one or two rules you feel I have broken that would have the greatest impact. I'd like to see if I can research this and perhaps undue some of the issues that are obvious to many of you whom are more experienced than me at planting trees. I'd also like to discuss this with the owner of the nursery where I purchased the tree to see if I mis-understood their guidance. Thanks

How deep did you dig into the rootball to check for moisture?

tj

Paperbark maple is a great tree; I hope it pulls through. Here’s a good tree planting guide, often referenced in these posts:

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

I dug a whole along side the root ball all the way to the bottom and took moisture measurements from top to bottom every couple inches and the measurement of being too wet was consistent from top to bottom. Having degrees in electrical engineering, I was suspicious that the moisture gage may not be accurate as I had no calibrated reference to use as a baseline to ensure accuracy. So I ran some experiments with potted plants where I could control the moisture level and found the gage to appear reasonably accurate. If anyone is aware of a good moisture gage to ensure greater accuracy, I would purchase one. Every test I did seems to confirm the tree has too much water in the root ball.

“If anyone is aware of a good moisture gage to ensure greater accuracy, I would purchase one.”

Your finger: no purchase needed!

I spoke to the owner of the nursery where I bought the tree. The fertilizer I used is called Espoma Bio-tone Starter Plus Organic fertilizer 4-3-3. The owner is going to come to my home tomorrow to see if he can help me figure out what is best to help the tree recover. I'll let you know what I find out.

https://www.espoma.com/product/bio-tone-starter-plus/#tab3

I followed this but the root ball is well above the ground level...