We planted two weeping cherry trees a week ago. One is doing ok but the one planted between us and a neighbor,

Question

on the west side of our house is not. The leaves are all brown and curled. We have watered, sprinkler system. The bed remains quite wet. We have rather firm, hard clay below the layer of topsoil. I hate to lose it because they were rather expensive. (25 gallon) I finally talked my husband into getting them and then this! The other one replaced a maple that was diseased and died. We bought the house in December and it is quite frustrating because it is in such a lovely neighborhood. We don't want the neighbors (and HOA) to complain.

Answer 1

With such hard clay you'll have to be very, very careful how you water.  Since clay tends to hold water and easily water logged, excessiving watering could drown the plants, yet you do need to water enough......it's a trick.  

Could be the root ball was damaged during transplanting and many roots were damaged.  Will the plant recover?  Hmmmm, being larger size, maybe.  It takes a lot of energy for the plant to repair the root system AND send out new leaves.  If it does, it will be a weakling for some time.  

After a week you should not be watering daily, maybe every other day for another week or so and then gradually taper to couple times a week.  

If the nursery planted it, contact them now so they know there's a problem.  I assume they gave you a one season guarantee.  

If you planted it........hmm, still contact the nusery for advice.  Having the second one doing well is in your favor.