is my tree dead/dying.

[Hammer2001]

We were given a tree/shrub by a friends dad back in February.
Not sure exactly what it is!
It's been outside in the garden in a planter in his garden for a good few years and he no longer wanted it.
We've had it in our garden since February and is was nice and green until the last month, where all the leaves have gone brown/yellow.
It's soil is damp and not dried out and we've added some compost, but it doesn't seem to be improving.
It has probably been in more direct sun, since the spring has begun, is this bad for a tree like this?

So is the tree dead? Or do you think it can recover?

[jessica_alinari]

In my opinion, your shrub is completely dead. Sudden environmental changes often lead to such poor outcome. Most shrubs are very sensitive to any change in their position, temperature and sunlight. When moved to a new place, they should be introduced to their new surroundings very slowly and should never be positioned in direct sunlight. A semi-shady spot is the best place when you want to reduce to a minimum plant relocation shock. If you are interested, take a look at this article about shrubs and next time try to apply some of the tips given here https://www.sooperarticles.com/home-and- ... 09556.html. I hope to be helpful.

[rainbowgardener]

Unfortunately, I expect Jessica is right. It's a cedar. They tend to die in slow motion from the inside out. By the time it is showing significant browning, it is probably already dead and long past saving. Sorry we had to be the bearers of bad tidings!

[Hammer2001]

Thanks for the replies.

Looks like you've confirmed the worst.

Feel bad that a tree given to us has died in our care!

Must have been the couple of weeks we were away and unable to water it that did for it.
Unfortunately it didn't rain, otherwise it might have survived.

[applestar]

It might help you feel better to know that in "good few years" the shrub's roots would most likely have escaped out of the pot and had most likely dug deep into their garden soil. When they moved it, they would have had to sever those roots. It might have been that the shrub was only dormant in the cold season and as soon as it woke up, it ran into trouble.

I don't know if it would have survived even if it had been planted as soon as it was possible to dig in your garden.