Can you post photos? The 'buds' may just be developing pollen cones, but can't be sure without pics. Resin

wow that is a small pic it sure looks like cones from the placement ... at least you didnt call them pine cones.... they are arb cones ... the number of cones.. varies year to year.. from none.. to bazillions [technical term there] .... many factors involved on such ... good luck ken

I forgot to mention that we are in central Pennsylvania, about an hour directly north of Harrisburg. We have had what seems like a fairly average summer, possibly a little dryer than normal. When we have a dry spell I do go out and water the shrubs. Here are few more pictures taken last night. The original that I posted was from right after the shrubs were planted. Close up of the dying arb. - http://i.imgbox.com/2OyAmbIA.jpg rear of the arbs., note the tree coverage. - http://i.imgbox.com/3TPLIqjB.jpg Two more pictures showing the tree coverage and shrubs. http://i.imgbox.com/tFiUHZgv.jpg http://i.imgbox.com/iXUjxdB0.jpg You will notice only one very browned arb, the two directly next to this one have been replaced in the last 4-6 weeks as they were in the same state. Lowes offered a 1 year warranty so I was credited for the purchased amount. My thought about bugs is that it is unlikely as the three shrubs I have had the problem with are all right next to each other. I could be wrong in this assumption. About applying a mulch, noted and I plan to take care of this immediately. I am happy with the layout of my yard/fence line and I do not require a additional shed as we have a sizable shed/single horse barn already for storage. I did not put fertilizer in the holes when planting. The ground in that area is extremely hard and compacted (compared to just a few feet over). Would it be beneficial to till up all of the ground in the general area down to maybe 12" or so? Will this help with my problem at all? When I replace the dying arb, should I break up the compacted soil (clay) that the root ball comes from the store in? Thank you again for all of your help.

My comment on perhaps being too wet was mostly based on 1) your irrigation system, 2) Im kind of assuming where you live in Pa gets similar rainfall to Columbus, Ohio which isnt that far away, and 3- I think the "foliage drop" on the bottom of a few is probably due to being too wet. I believe browning from the bottom up is a sign of too much water(thats what people on here told me a while back). My land happens to be fairly wet as I have leaches living in my soil and the water table is usually pretty high. I have a cistern so it is easy to measure how far down to reach water. In addition, overwatering is the number one way people hurt/kill their plants/trees/etc. I am just 4.5 years into this hobby and Ive learned that not much happens in the first year, sometimes 2 years, and even 3-3.5 years. Usually (always in my case, my Horstmanns Siblerlocke Korean Fir, my last holdout, finally TOOK OFF after 3 years of not doing much at all) by year 4 the trees are settled, fill out nicely, and their growth rate is what it is supposed to be. While I generally dont fertilize, I do on occasion. Ive had good luck with Hollytone (and millorganite) and you can use it any time of the year. I bet it would help green those up if that is what you want to happen in the near term. My guess is they will green up naturally in time. This particular "linear mound" has been fertilized on occasion since I dont know how far into the "orginal ground surface" the roots go. I also added a bunch of cow manure when I got rid of my Subaru (see bare spot toward back of mound) about a month or two ago. Let me find a pic of an emerald green that has never been fertilized to see how its color is (from left to right weeping white pine, baby blue eyes, emerald green arborvitae, techney arborvitae (possibly dark green arborvitae, not sure), columnar Norway spruce). These pics were taken on the same day about 2 weeks ago and it does appear the ones that were fertilized are a darker green. As you can see, deer have been snacking on the emerald green.