Complete novice needing help with Cox Orange Pippin tree

[inni]

Evening all,

Happy I found this forum as need some advice please with my very first attempt at growing an apple tree.
My local Wilkinson's were selling apple trees at a discount price at £3/50 so thought I'll give it a go.
The tree I went for was a Cox Orange Pippin tree.
The roots were covered in some form of film packaging and wasn't sold in a pot.
I planted the tree but made sure the joined part of the tree wasn't covered - its above the soil line.
I watered the plant and made sure I put a cane to support the tree.
This was all done on Sunday but the last 2 days I have noticed the leaves have either gone dry and curled up or some have gone all brown.
Question is, have I destroyed the tree by doing something wrong?
Below are things I think I have gone wrong at after going through some YouTube videos and various websites.

After initial main watering at planting stage I have watered the tree everyday - not huge amounts but I'll say under a pint of water - is this too much or too little?

When I planted the tree I didn't spread out the roots - it was all clumped together but there was one lose root which I left alone - could this be one reason the leaves are drying up/curling up/going brown?
Would it be a good idea to re plant the tree, loosen up the roots and try again?

There is grass next to the tree - I should've cleared this before planting so again should I clear the grass and re plant the tree in the same spot?

Sorry for all the questions but am very keen to learn from my mistakes and get a fruit tree going.
Many thanks

[boundtothesoil]

I don't think there is an absolute right or wrong approach to your problem.

Maybe this hasn't happened to your tree but sometimes the young leaves of trees kept 'in store', out of real sunlight and maybe packaged in polythene, get scorched when they experience the real outdoor world for the first time. This is likely to occur if it's sunny during the days following planting out. Additionally, with a newly planted tree like this the damaged root system is unlikely to be very efficient, initially, at absorbing sufficient water to prevent the new leaves tissue drying out - i.e. support the rate of evapotranspiration from them, hence they shrivel .
Replanting is an option given your treatment of the root system first time round. However, if the tree were mine, I wouldn't subject it to any further stress this season. I'd wait patiently and hopefully for a second flush of new leaves to emerge, after looking closely at the branches to see if there are any healthy looking buds remaining. If the weather is very sunny I would also cover the tree with protective fleece during the day for a week, to lessen the light intensity until the existing leaves have toughened up.
However, If nothing has happened after a month, I'd give up and maybe buy a replacement tree grown in a pot which could be planted out with an intact rootball even though the growing season has begun. Alternatively wait until the coming winter and plant a bare root tree.

[inni]

Many thanks for the reply.
I'll take your advice on board and leave the tree alone and see what happens in a months time.
The weather seems up and down at the moment - today has been very mild with little sunshine but I'll look into that protective fleece just in case it becomes very hot again.
Sorry, just got a question regarding watering, should I just give it a good watering once I week and maybe increase to say 2-3 times a week when it gets really hot?
thanks

[Scarlet]

Watering once a week is ample. Best to give the tree a good soak once a week rather than a pint a day - that won't get down to the roots. A good mulch wouldn't hurt either, it will stop it from drying out. Good luck!

[Ninetrees]

This happened to me with a bare root Concorde pear tree last year, that was planted out in April. There were a few leaves on the tree already, and within a week, most had shrivelled. I worried about its health for about a month, watered it twice a week, and then a second round of growth appeared, much stronger, and all has been well since. So I would say give it some time, and mulch.

Oh, and welcome to the forum

[Kristen]

I don't think they should be selling bare root plants this late in the season ... no reputable nursery would. Plant is bound to suffer as a result and that will make it prone to disease.

Finger crossed, but I suspect at the least it will spend a year "recovering"

[Kirk]

I would leave it and as suggested a mulch and some water.
Take a look in a couple of weeks and I would suspect that there will be a new flush of leaves.

The change of conditions most likely will have caused the tree some distress or confusion and so the leaf loss/curl.