Tree: Japanese Umbrella Pine (sciadopitys verticillata)
Sun: Full sun (for the most part - does receive some minor shade in the morning and afternoon from the house/other tree)
Soil: Clay (not the heaviest I've seen, but noticeably clumpy)
Location/zone: Portland/8A
Plant Date: March 2019
I planted this umbrella pine back about 4 months ago and so far everything has been good. I have learned a couple times that it doesn't like to let it's soil go dry (especially on warm days) or it will start to sag and lose it's green color, but other than that, I haven't let it go a long time in overly dry conditions, and it always bounced back.
However, after the last dry spell when I missed a watering, I deep watered it but left the hose on the tree too long and came back to a puddle around the tree (which eventually cleared). Over the next few days, I was also lightly watering it each day as we were having some 90° days. During this period, I started to notice the tree look worse (instead of quickly perking up as usual) - see pictures #2/3/4 (in order of upload). I think was reacting to a dry soil condition based off previous habit when I should have been reacting to a overly wet soil condition. When this happened, I stopped watering it, and removed the rocks from above the roots in hopes that this would help the soil dry faster.
4 days later, the tree looks as shown in picture #1 (order of upload) - even worse. Since I have stopped watering the tree, we have received 2 days with quick but heavy rain storms, and a few days of hot dry weather. Overall, the soil still seems wet in my yard in general.
After my watering mistake, I've now read that while they don't like their soil to go dry, they also don't like soil that stays wet too long (common description that seems like a contradiction but whatever). Based on what you see in the pictures, do you think it looks like an overwater condition? If so, what would recommend doing? I was thinking about digging out the soil around the roots and mixing in some compost with the clay to improve drainage.
