River Birch woes

This is my first post, and I don’t know if this forum deals with such issues. Please forgive me if this is not a good post. Last year in June I purchased a River Birch from a local nursery, and had them plant it. It did great throughout the summer, but it’s not looking so hot right now. The other trees I purchased from are looking great. Of the 3 trunks only 2 are getting leaves, and they are pretty sparse. The nursery will replace any dead trees within a year of the purchase. It just has sentimental value.

Bummer .. I'd certainly call them and explain the situation and have them come out and look at it. It might be salvageable.

X

ps .. welcome to Carolina Gardening! I look forward to more of your posts and some pictures!

Let's hit the basics. River birch need a good amount of water from time to time. You try putting a hose on it for a few hours? I don't mean the hose running full blast BTW.

Two, do you see anything weird or out of place on the trunk that's not leaving out?

River birch like to be in spots that collect water. They can dry out for weeks or months but then they need a big amount of water which they'll suck right up. Then they're fine for weeks or so again. I would really hit it with a lot of water and see what happens, you should notice a difference the next day if that's the problem.