That is why I was posting. It is not doing well. It got too big and
interfere with this adjacent walkway. I'd say the sun shine in this area
from the late morning hours to late afternoon/early evening hours. This
area gets way too bright for me to close my window blinds, so I could
see my computer monitors. The sun rises behind this white wall among the
huge hill with green trees, plants, etc.

If it was cut back because it was impinging on the walkway
and given how tiny it is now, I'd say the problem was that
way too much was taken off. It sounds like it went from
a substantial bush to just a stick, was severely shocked
and is now struggling and may never recover.

The other pic of the small tree, looks like there is a hole
in the trunk near the top and also possibly smaller holes
in the branches. If so, it probably has a boring insect of
some kind. Once they are at work, it's usually over.

Ah, thanks. I noticed very tiny green leaves growing a few days ago.
Maybe it is water related due to the recent cold rain storms. We'll see...

It had been hot and dry lately (yesterday was almost 100F degrees!), and
their leaves turned brown and fell. So, it does look like it is water
related.
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