We could best help you by seeing a couple of photos of your tree, which can be attached directly to this reply.

Include one of the whole tree, one where it enters the ground and  of the affected leaves.

Also, any information about the area where it's planted- soil, sun, mulch? (how deep)? Any changes like chemicals/weed killers used?

Did you plant the tree or is it a volunteer? When was it planted?

As regards watering, long, slow deep drinks are much more hydrating and helpful for plants than watering every day for a  short time.

Here is more information on watering: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/watering-trees-and-shrubs

We will be happy to take a look and let you know our thoughts.

Christine

Hello Christine-

Thank you for your response.

Here are 3 photos. I'm sorry but they are not very good.

The tree gets sun from middle morning on.

I can not tell you much about the soil.

I did not plant the tree but it was not a volunteer.

I do not use any chemicals.

I think the tree was planted 2 years ago. It did bloom this year.

I was dealing with a health problem this spring and I'm afraid I neglected it.

I would appreciate any  help and advice you can give me to save it.

I understand about watering it with long slow deep drinks of water but how often should I do that?

Thank you,

Marcia

Hello Marcia,

Removing the vine was good, as while it may not have strangled the young tree yet, it could have had a negative impact in terms of competition for moisture, nutrients, and light. In time, vines coiled around tree trunks can indeed cause serious problems.

The close-up of the foliage seems to show a broken branch in the background. Although it's hard to see, it looks like there might be cicada damage on it, which would be expected in our area this time of year (and this year in particular). Young trees can be hit fairly hard by this since so many of their stems are slender enough to be attractive to cicadas for egg-laying. Older trees get damaged too, but it's not serious for them. If you haven't already, trim off the twigs just below where they are broken. You can look for the dashed-line wound on the bark to confirm cicadas were the cause. There are images on both of the pages below that you can use as a refence:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/cicadas

https://cicadacrewumd.weebly.com/gallery.html (see the "damage to plants" section)

It may take time for a struggling young tree, but they can regrow from cicada damage, so this by itself isn't anything to worry about. (Even if it proves too injurious to the tree, there's not much someone can do about it.)

Many hours of direct sun in summer can stress dogwoods, as in nature they are understory or woods-edge trees. In yards, they're often planted in very sunny spots instead, and they can struggle in high summer. The best you can do to help it tolerate the heat and drier weather patterns is to mulch the root zone and water well when needed. It looks like you are doing both, which helps. Feel the soil about five or so inches down; if damp, the roots should have enough moisture; if fairly dry, water the root zone well. You can monitor the soil roughly once or twice a week in dry weather for a tree this young, and as they age, they become a bit more self-sufficient. Watering frequency won't necessarily fall into a particular schedule...it will vary with the weather and characteristics of the soil, along with how many nearby plants (including lawn and weeds) are competing with it.
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/how-grow-dogwood

The planting depth looks about right - perhaps a little bit too high/shallow - but one or two main roots visible at the surface look like they had old damage, so the root system overall might be struggling to establish. If what looks like stakes in the photo are there to support the tree, you can remove them as they shouldn't be needed. A bit of swaying motion from wind helps trees anchor themselves more quickly and develop a stabilizing taper to the trunk.

For now, just keep an eye on its watering needs and give it time to recuperate. If it looks wilted/curled, feel the soil before assuming it needs water, since heat stress can still cause well-watered plants to wilt during the day. In those cases leaves usually perk back up by evening or early the next morning while it's cooler. Many trees don't continue to put out above-ground growth after midsummer because they need to direct their energies to preparing internal tissues for winter and growing next year's buds instead. Therefore, if you don't see new branch growth until next spring, that's to be expected. Don't fertilize the tree as this could tax roots that are already under stress. Fortunately, it isn't showing signs of a nutrient deficiency, which is encouraging.

Miri

You're welcome.

If you add a little bit more soil to the tree's roots, use only about an inch and try to keep it off of the trunk itself. Then, mulch can go over top of that, perhaps one or two more inches. (Here too, keep mulch off the trunk.)

Miri

You're welcome.

Perhaps there was a system error...the last reply we sent was just a "you're welcome."

Miri