transplant question

[qumessah]

Hello!
About 6 weeks ago we bought a 4ft Henry Hicks magnolia Virginiana at a local nursery.Our landscape designer recommended both the tree and the nursery. We live in a wooded lot with lots of beech oak and rhododendrons in southern pa.
Anyway, the guy who sold it to us made it seem as if it was very easy tree to grow - basically just dig a hole and stick it in. A lot of watering not necessary (no need to drip over time)
So after about a week and a few 10 gallon waterings the leaves started to turn yellow, brown then drop. After a few more weeks all the leaves on the upper half are gone. The bottom half is still there but some of those are turning yellow too. At this point I'm watering 2-3 times a week.
There doesn't appear to be any new leaf growth but the stems appear to be alive the entire length of the tree.
What should we do know? How will we know that the tree will be ok? When should leaves regrow?

 

[ElevatorGuy]

You’ll see new growth in the spring. Didn’t the tree come with a 1 year warranty?

 

[ATH]

Was it in a pot? were the roots encircling? If so, dig it up and correct that. "dig a hole and stick it in" is a little too simplistic.

https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/remove-side.shtml
That is more of a long-term thing than an answer to what you are seeing now.

As for now, scrape some twigs and see if they are still green. Call the nursery and see if they want to come look