Hi guys,

I hope this post finds you well. My pink dogwood tree was delivered yesterday (from fastgrowingtrees.com), and it came in completely damaged. The leaves are curled outwards and there are multiple holes in the leaves surrounded by yellow/brown spots. What might have been the cause of this? And is it salvageable? Of course, I am planning to call the company tomorrow and see if I can get a replacement, but for future reference, I would like to know the steps to address this issue. I attached pictures to this post.

Have a blessed day!

Best,
Anjello

You will have to show a photo of the entire plant but, it doesn't look bad. Did they ship it in a pot? What kind of pot (cardboard, plastic)? Please, do not re-pot.

How long did it take to arrive? If it was in a box for more than a day or so, it will lose color because it wasn't able to photosynthesize in the box. It will green up. NO FERTILIZER!

DaisyI said:You will have to show a photo of the entire plant but, it doesn't look bad. Did they ship it in a pot? What kind of pot (cardboard, plastic)? Please, do not re-pot.

How long did it take to arrive? If it was in a box for more than a day or so, it will lose color because it wasn't able to photosynthesize in the box. It will green up. NO FERTILIZER!

Hi there!

They shipped it in a plastic container. I am a little worried about the holes in the leaves? There are so many! Is this normal??

your tree looks great!
The little holes, some kind of little critter, maybe a caterpillar,
won't hurt the tree and will just look a little unsightly.

If it were me I would wait until it is dormant this winter and then cut off all the little branches below the red tag in the photo.

Frillylily said:your tree looks great!
The little holes, some kind of little critter, maybe a caterpillar,
won't hurt the tree and will just look a little unsightly.

If it were me I would wait until it is dormant this winter and then cut off all the little branches below the red tag in the photo.

What should I do about the critter? Insecticide? Not sure about the protocol for newly received trees...

It could have sustained that damage before it was shipped, and critter may be long gone. I would just inspect the leaves closely and see if you find anything that moves. It it is a caterpillar you can leave it, or remove it by hand and put it outside. I guess even a grass hopper may eat holes in leaves.

Your tree should have came with some planting instructions. ?

All your tree needs right now is water (keep it damp, not wet) and a shady place to live. Next winter (December or January) you can transplant it to its final home. Pink Dogwood trees hate to be transplanted so, when you do, transplant carefully, disturbing as few roots as possible.

Hmmm, these spots/holes look similar enough to necrotic lesions produced by fungal diseases, such as Dogwood Anthracnose or Spot Anthracnose, that I would be leery, too. I don't have enough experience with either to say for sure, but I would definitely recommend contacting your local extension office for their opinion.

https://www.uaex.edu/publicati...

http://extension.uga.edu/count...

My 'vote' is that it looks healthy enough and with above suggested care will be just fine.
http://extension.uga.edu/publi...

Those lesions on the leaves are worrying. I would return it, or do as Danita suggested, and get a definitive diagnosis before planting.