Salvage this dogwood?

[pm428]

Hi all. Posting from America in Southwest Missouri (hardiness zone 6, frost line 24"). We moved into our new home about a year ago and had a Cherokee Brave Dogwood placed in the front yard. It was planted about January 2021. It had a normal start during the spring and early summer. By August,  the leaves started yellowing. I did some research and wondered if it wasn't getting enough water, or that the soil wasn't acidic enough. It is in the line of a sprinkler system that watered about 3x/week, so a landscaper inferred that it could be getting overwatered instead. I attached 3 images of when the leaves were yellowing in August 2021.

 

I added elemental sulfur to the soil in September. I didn't see any improvement (which I realize may be too early, now). I had a local arborist come out and look at it in October, and he stated that it may be best to get the tree replaced since we would still be under warranty from the landscaping company. He was 50/50 whether or not it would survive. His concern when seeing it was that it was the mulch was placed too high up the trunk, and that it was placed in full sun without any shade (new subdivision, no mature trees within 100 ft of this tree- fully exposed throughout the day). 

 

We've made it to the back end of winter, and the tree looks rather sad. Most of the leaves did not fall off. Additionally, a small portion of bark came off the lower portion of the tree (we have deer around, not sure if they did it). We are now probably out of the worst part of winter, so I'm wondering if there is anything that can be done to salvage this tree. I added additional images of the tree from today.

 

Thanks ahead of time for the help. 

[Dan Maynard]

Bark detaching like that round the base is a bad sign, I'd say good chance it is too late for anything as already dead.

[Bunzena]

I'm afraid I agree with Dan.  Dogwood would normally drop it's leaves - the fact that the leaves haven't fallen suggests that the tree is dead.

 

Try snapping a twig/small branch.  If it's got any green just under the back - there's a chance.  If it's brown and dry - it's already gone to tree heaven.

 

Sorry.

[pm428]

Thanks for the feedback. In the event that it is dead, would it be ok to plant a tree in the same place? We've considered trying another dogwood, but may opt for something that isn't an ornamental given that it's in full sun.

 

We may opt to take soil samples and send to the local university so they can give recommendations on other trees to plant. 

 

Thanks again