We had some landscaping put in about a month ago. My wife, of course wanted landscaping as quick as possible because we recently bought a new house.

A couple of our dogwoods are starting to have their leaves yellow. I am thinking that my wife is overwatering them, as she wants to water them every day.

Of course it was a crappy time of the year to have trees transplanted, but it is what it is. I am thinking quit watering so frequently and instead check the soil to see if it's moist? Also, is there anything I can do to stimulate root growth?

I have transplanted trees mid summer, sometimes they lost all their leaves and then new ones grew back. Over watering is mostly a big problem with poorly drained soil. I would go heavy on mulch/compost and cut back on the watering. Good luck!

Leaves will typically yellow from the bottom of the tree/shrub is overwatered.
No need to water every day 2 months in. Cut back to 2-3 times a week at most & leave at a slow soak.
You can stick a piece of 1-1/2-2" perforated PVC next to the root ball so you see if water is still present in the soil.

What are the daily temps where you are right now? An inch of water a week ought to help get them established and you can water that amount in (depending on your soil) during one or two waterings. The idea is to go for deep thorough watering as opposed to shallow frequent waterings. Those suffocate the roots and keep them on the surface, leading to an unstable tree.

Oogway said:

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What are the daily temps where you are right now? An inch of water a week ought to help get them established and you can water that amount in (depending on your soil) during one or two waterings. The idea is to go for deep thorough watering as opposed to shallow frequent waterings. Those suffocate the roots and keep them on the surface, leading to an unstable tree.

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Daytime temps in the low 90's.

This is what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation.

The biggest issue with transplanting trees is differences in soil types. If you move a tree from sandy soil to heavy clay soils, it will be next to impossible to keep from overwatering. The hole dug in the clay turns into a swimming pool and the sandy soil allows for infiltration that causes a terrible situation. The opposite scenario is better but creates a situation where the roots never want to leave the clay soil and it often takes years for a tree to become stable. I hate container grown trees for this very reason but I realize it difficult to source and move trees from similar soil types.

Dogwoods are very picky where they grow.

The need acidic, sandy soil. They need good drainage.They need partial shade, and do not like full sun. In the wild they are low understory beneath larger trees.

Sometimes it is tough to make them grow unless they are exactly where they want to be.

SunrayAg said:

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Dogwoods are very picky where they grow.

The need acidic, sandy soil. They need good drainage.They need partial shade, and do not like full sun. In the wild they are low understory beneath larger trees.

Sometimes it is tough to make them grow unless they are exactly where they want to be.

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Yep!

Dogwoods are difficult to transplant in my experience. I have had good results with almost everything else but dogwoods.