I am often asked about trees that have been planted as long as 10 years, but never really did well before they finally died.
Several factors relate to the problem.
Such plants that fail to establish in the landscape or blow over have root problems that may have started at planting time, or even earlier, in the nursery that produced them. This can occur during machine planting if the roots are swept to one side. This occurs if you fail to tease or spread the roots when shifting to a larger container or when the plants were placed into the landscape. All these root defects result in poor quality that indirectly affects plant survival. Nutrient and water absorption is restricted, which weakens the plant and predisposes it to disease and drought.