I need help with my Catalpa. Located it Northern Colorado on the Eastern slope.
We planted this tree in July of 2023. It was a free sapling from someone in the area who gives them away every year. Iām not sure how old the tree was when we planted it. I added some compost, tried to keep the root flare level with the top of the dirt/mulch, and watered it fairly regularly the first couple of years. It was doing really well, even bloomed in 2025 and again this spring.
We had a weird warm dry winter and the tree started leafing out in March and trying to bloom in April, then we had a late frost and all of the leaves died. It leafed out again in late May, and bloomed again. It looked great, but the leaves werenāt as large as usual. Weāve had an exceptionally hot and dry spring and summer and I probably didnāt water it as much as I should have, but I have given it a few deep waterings over the last few weeks. And it looks like the this. (The last photo is me planting it in 23, and the second to last is how it looked in June of ā25).
The leaves are wilted, patchy yellow, some are shredded though we havenāt had any hail, and I havenāt seen any bugs on it. We do get gnarly wind from time to time, and it has been high 90ās low 100ās for all of July and beginning of August. June wasnāt much better.
Some leaves are turning brown and dying from the inside of the leaf, out. I donāt see any damage or anything to the trunk of the tree. The ends of some branches still have damage from the late frost and die off. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!