What's happening to my amelanchier?

This is my three year old amelanchier. It was in a pot and moved into the ground this spring. We've had enough rain that I can't see it being drought affected but it doesn't look good at all.

What is wrong with it please? And what can I do?

 

Rain is often not enough at this time of the year, have you watered it at all.
Newly planted trees need irrigation.

 

Do you think it is drought?

I have it a good soaking every couple of days for a fortnight or so after planting it and then possibly weekly - or just less than. I didn't want to over water it if that's the problem.

 

OK so if you have watered it its probably not the problem.
Wouldn't like to guess what the problem is then.

 

I planted an Amelanchier last year in a similar position, close to a fence. Despite all the rain this year, I have been giving it a long soak every three days or so as I noticed that some of the leaves were starting to yellow recently. I’ve also just added a layer of farmyard manure as a mulch to help to retain moisture. Unless you have poor draining soil which gets waterlogged, watering more frequently and deeply should help.

 

Did it look like this when it was in the pot? What type of soil was in the pot and was it topped up/ renewed at all?
How did you prepare the planting hole before you planted it?
Sorry to ask so many questions but these probably have a bearing on why it looks like this.
I'm sure others will be along to help.

 

If it was in a pot for 2 years and wasn't healthy and well hydrated before planting out, that won't have helped. Planting fairly recently is always going to be difficult, and the condition of the soil it went into is also important.
It would be difficult to overwater Amelanchiers unless the ground is solid and doesn't drain well enough, but that wouldn't be ideal to plant into anyway. The prep is vital, especially for a tree. When I planted one in this garden, it was in a very small raised bed around March [couple of years ago?] and against a fence. It was watered in, and was barely watered again apart from a bucket or two during that summer. That's where climate and general conditions come into it all.

The age of it before you got it is also a factor, so a pic of the whole tree would be helpful, rather than just a close up of foliage etc. It looks quite a decent size, which is more difficult for establishment.
I agree with @floralies about those questions, but taking into account the size and the timing of planting, it's most likely been drier than ideal, and is shutting down a bit due to the stress of that.

 

It looks like the older growth has some leaf scorch which can happen if the plant is a little thirsty and we get a drying wind. It's been very wet this year where I am but it's also been really windy and I've seen lots of early shed leaves and leaf damage.

 

I would suspect that it has not grown new roots beyond its pot root ball and is not enjoying the wider world. Did you break up the compost and then tease and bed the roots tightly in to the loose earth you planted it in ? Was it drenched and firmed to establish capillary contact.? Have you firmed it since planting? Did you use rootgrow or other stimulant ? I believe these prefer acidic soils, a treatment with sequestrene may help, especially if your soil has chalk or limestone.

 

Lots to consider. Thanks folks.

It looked fine in the pot. It just had multi purpose compost in and hadn't been topped up for a year or so. I dug a wide planting hole, backfilled with a mix of multi purpose compost and top soil, adding in some rootgrow.

It's a 3 year old tree at a decent height of 2.5m.

I did firm it initially and give a very deep water. I'll be honest that I haven't continued to firm it in but it seems pretty secure.

 

I think your tree is just putting more effort into making new roots rather than making new leaves since it now has more space for the roots to expand into. A tree planted in a new spot can take a couple of years to settle properly before resuming more rapid growth and I think you just have to give it time now to anchor itself in its new position. I have read that over fertilising the planting hole can lead to roots not going as far into the soil as they would otherwise do on unimproved soil and the tree may then take longer to get established, but probably too late to worry about that now.

Happy gardening!

 

They can easily get loose, and/or toppled so it's worth staking it well for the next year or two. If the soil's lighter, that's even more possible than when in a heftier soil.
A newly planted tree, especially one of a decent size [which it is] will take many, many months to establish, as @Macraignil says, and if it gets rocked by winds, that makes it harder. It'll drop foliage so that it can concentrate on that root system.
Some of the foliage may have been damaged by other weather, but at this stage it's all about getting it happy due to the timing and it's size. Keep it firmed well, stake it, make sure it's well watered when you do water it [that also encourages the roots to go down and out] mulch the soil around it now and again, and then let it get established. Just keep an eye on it to ensure the ties aren't rubbing etc.
By this time next year, it should be doing well. It's a big shock for a tree going into the ground when it's been in a pot for many years, especially when in growth.