Question
location is in Northeast Alabama, recently planted a red dogwood, the leaves are turning brown.  Could it be a fungus or some type of disease? What can we do to prevent tree from dying?

Answer
Howdy George,

This is "Coach Dave" and I enjoy helping solve plant problems.

Red Dogwood trees are a great source of beauty and usually enjoy a long life. You are most likely correct thinking a disease or fungus would be the source of the Dogwoods' browning leaf problem.

You could have "Dogwood anthracnose" which is a fungal blight affecting the leaves and twigs of dogwood trees.  This disease weakens the trees and causes twig dieback and leaf browning.

Red dogwood trees are also highly susceptible to a fungus called "Discula destructiva", commonly known as dogwood blight.

The steps to solving this is to cut back nearby shade from other trees to promote drying.

If you apply a fungicide to your tree according to manufacturer's directions(usually 2-3 applications)this will help.

Usually trees on warmer, drier sites with good air movement are less impacted.  So, while dogwoods can die from this disease, with some help from you, it might make it.

Happy Gardening,

Coach Dave