The first one is a yew, Ken, imo. It's a thirsty, baked yew. I don't really think the nursery should be responsible for replacing a plant which has been exposed to hot sun and insufficiently watered on transplanting. It looks as if was a very healthy specimen originally. '...all conifers are full sun plants....' Tell that to the churchyard yews. Even if a mature plant can take full sun a sappy, green yew full of young growth cannot when it is first planted. Your favourite solution is a lawn chair. And I think this shrub could have used one.

There is another unpleasant possibility--the black vine weevil, very common in many plants but its favorite is the yew, Taxus capitata. I once planted a hedge of yews and almost half of them started to turn brown, despite the best care. I was mystified. I called the nursery where I bought them and they told me to bring in some affected branches. It was the black vine weevil. There is a spray for it, which I used, tho I almost never spray anything. Some of the plants were too far gone but I saved some others and also the ones not yet affected. Plants grown in huge wholesale nurseries seem to be particularly affected. Many ornamentals can get this tho I've never seen it before or since. I'd be very suspicious that you might have black vine weevils, as they are newly planted shrubs. Google "black vine weevil" for good info about this pest and suggestions for control.

In my experience, when trees, shrubs, or other plants are planted properly transplanting shock just doesn't happen. Of course, the yellowing is due to 'stress ', but we have no idea what may have caused the problem. There are lots of mistakes to make along the way. Planting too deeply, adding lots of amendments to the planting hole, the site is not watered properly afterwards (too much or too little), the site does not drain properly, etc.

Just wanted to post a followup on this for anyone who may come across this thread in the future. I always hate finding a thread full of good information, but then not knowing if it actually worked or not. I replaced the trees that died, and the new ones are doing great. Here's what I did differently. (I know that for some of you, these may be the most obvious things in the world, but some of us are still learning, even from our really stupid, obvious mistakes). - I waited til it cooled down. It got cooler earlier than I expected, so I was able to do the transplants a couple weeks ago. - Smaller trees. I did still really need the height, so I went with 6-8' tall trees (some are about 9', actually), but I got much smaller caliper (trunk diameter) trees. I tried for no more than about 1.5" caliper, measured 6 inches above the root flare (some are a little closer to 1.75"). They're definitely much less full, but they'll get the job done until they fill in and grow up a little. It helps a lot that I found out that for screening purposes, eastern red cedars can be planted as close as 4' apart. Bigger, fuller trees really aren't needed at that spacing. - No starter fertilizer. These are trees, not grass. I used some Fertilome Root Stimulator & Starter solution (per the manufacturer's instructions) when I planted, and may add some Superthrive in a couple weeks, just to get the roots really going before winter kicks in. - Much better care of the root balls. I didn't make perfect root balls, as such - after reading a whole lot of back and forth between scientists on the benefits of good root balls vs taking as much root as possible, even if they're outside of the dirt, I kind of went with a hybrid approach. I got as much root as I could, and kept as much dirt on them as possible. I kept all of them covered with dirt of some type for as much time as possible, and ensured that they never actually got dry. Total time from digging to planting was less than 4 hours, and most of that time, they were in some kind of dirt. - I watered with a sprinkler for a few days, to let moisture come in through both the roots & leaves, in case the roots were having difficulty of some kind. Then I found out about Wilt-Pruf (prevents moisture from escaping through the leaves, which causes a lot of transplant shock). I applied it per the manufacturer's instructions, and am now watering with a soaker hose, as Wilt-Pruf should also prevent absorption of water through the leaves. - I haven't mulched yet (life got in the way unexpectedly), but I will be soon. Something else I came across in my reading - mulch isn't required, but most bushes or trees that are mulched in their first year or two after transplant show 20%+ more growth than those that aren't. Since growth & size are my primary goals here, it's worth having that junk in my yard for a year or two. We'll see what, if anything, will grow under these trees once they're established, but for now, it's gonna be mulch. Thanks, everybody, for all the insights provided. Hopefully these results, and what I did to get them, will be useful to someone else in the future, too.