Question
Our Honey Locust tree was planted last year. It did great, leafed out this year and looked very good for about 5 weeks, then the leave turned yellow and fell off in showers. The tree is trying to produce more leaves but not doing very well. The tree still seems green and supple it just doesn't have leaves any more. I run it on a drip system and it gets sprinkled as well. It has basalt rock chips around it. All the other trees planted last year are doing very well. The tree appears healthy but doesn't ane any leaves anymore. Any ideas on what this could be?

Answer
The tree is definitely stressed and shedding leaves. This could be due to several reasons. The worst case could be a root rot disease has set in due to over watering. The best case could be that the tree is shedding leaves to compensate for changes in its environment.

Either way, the tree is losing leaves in order to conserve energy. That the leaves have fallen is a good sign. I recommend scaling back your watering schedule. Allow the root ball to dry significantly before giving it a thorough saturation. Do not fertilize with anything other than organic amendments like compost and dry molasses this year.

Another thing to look for is a prominent root flare. The base of the tree should be flared out at the bottom. If it is straight like a post, it has sunken too deeply into the planting hole. Remove the soil from the base until you see this flare. A buried root flare can cause a tree to have difficulty taking up water and nutrients. This can cause leaf drop as well.