are you sure its not just growing so much.. its just floppy from soft growth ...? ... and perhaps it will harden off in a bit ... the whole opposite season confuses me ... if this time is what i might call late spring.. early summer ... this is an option ...

i hate fixing problems that really dont exist ...

see link on watering ... water when a plant needs water ... rather than some schedule.. it usually involves inserting your finger and testing your soil ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

like ken says , get finger down in there and feel for moisture

also move mulch away from trunk,,,allow crown to be dry

ron

I thought ‘Sea Urchin’ was tighter, like the two green mounds behind it. Does this one eventually throw up a leader and take off?

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure it isn't floppy from growing so much. It's gone browner today.

The soil is moist but not wet. Does this particular conifer hate too much sun?

Maackia, it was tighter before. But because the needles are wilting it's lost its shape. Also it's grafted, it won't grow a leader.

Here it is back in October, in happier times and full of promise:

It is a Pinus strobus, wants full sun. It matures to a round, globe shape. Yours looks like the typical shape of a young plant.

Woody plants are slow to show their displeasure. The conditions right now might be fine, but it may be responding to a past insult. In my experience, when I have a problem with a young plant like this, it is generally because the root ball dried out. The best indication that I have is not droopiness or browning, but by the entire plant being very slightly off-color. I had a group of three conifers that were recent plantings in front of the house and I drove up one day and noticed that one was duller than the others and sure enough, it was on the way out. Turns out that the irrigation to that plant had failed.

Planting just before summer heat is never a good idea. I'm guessing (and it's just a guess) that it dried out at some point. The only thing that you can do now is to make sure that the root ball stays moist (not wet) and that means watering in that small area where the roots are. Once a plant takes root in the ground it sends roots out sideways, but newly planted trees only have roots in that area that used to be the pot.

Pinus srobus hard to establish. Just know from experience. If its browning this time of year it's dead.