This pine has been planted for 3 years and was thriving, we were last out in September and it was fine. First week of December and it looks like this. Do you think it will come back or not? Our next visit will be March so it has until then to decide what its fate is.

It can't be lack of water as its on the irrigation system with the rest of the plants so it just seems odd it has turned brown, as we know pines are supposed to be evergreen. Funnily enough one of the cypress in our fenceline was this colour in September and had to be dug out and replaced. One cypress in the middle of a whole row. I'm wondering if somebody is possibly spraying weedkiller over the fence.

Too much water?

Oh and no... I very much doubt it will come back.

Not a fan of reincarnation then?

Pines are funny old things, once they turn that colour they are generally on their way to Shiva.

Thats what I was thinking, never seen a pine this brown and live, just have to replace it come March.

Single pines in a row can just turn up their toes and die - no obvious reason as to why.

In my opinion..... remove the automatic watering system, remove the top foot of soil and if you are concerned just plant it somewhere else.

Many ppl.don't like them because of the processionary caterpillar problem,so it is possible it's been got at.
Are there many other pines close by,say within half a km.or so ?

I once had a really horrible jealous neighbour, who put bleach on my
potted trees. One by one. One of them was a tree I'd brought from my Mum's house just after she died. I was really upset that I'd let it die! I never worked it out. It took an acquaintance of his to let the cat out of the bag. Some people are just weird! I hope this isn't what happened.
We have a bit of trouble with plants dying off here but I bought my husband a PH detector the other day.
It seems our soil is made from concentrated acid! But then we are in a Pine-y area with lots of granite rocks around.
You might test for yours being too alkaline. This can happen on new build sites where builders lime has been left around. Also check on the depth of your soil. Could be there just aren't enough nutrients.

People always look for the most unexplainable answer to simple problems. The tree looks like it has suffered from that eternal gardeners problem, an over generous right hand tip. (Yes I know there is an automatic waterer and thats what I am talking about)

Seems strange that this tree has died when the row of cyprus look healthy. That is nature and some of us die young.