i doubt they will ever live up to your expectation.. return them ... for no other reason ...

did you mean aurea ... a yellow version .. yes.. any yellow plant typically needs a lot of sun to yellow properly .. they wont die in shade.. they just wont yellow properly.. if too little.. what is enough is really hard to say ... you would have to find out and see.. but see above ...

glauca.. the blue.. wouldnt care ... as long as there was enough light.. to not thin over the decades ...

regardless... i think you can do a lot better than 6 nootka ... i have no clue what your project is... but you could mail order some superlative plants .. and really make a statement in your yard ... well ... except for the shade...

what is the project???

ken

Hi Ken! Thanks so much! We are very very beginner gardeners :)
We have a chain link fence that is about 25 feet in length that we wish to hide. We are open to all suggestions!
We also get a lot of deer. I have attached a picture, its the chain link fence straight ahead with the gate in the middle. You can ignore the 2 otto luykens that we just planted, we think we can move them.
Thanks!
Julia

you would probably accomplish it faster. with flowering shrubs ...

what direction is the right side of the pic???

with the canopy raised that high.. light intensity is probably very high ... even though not direct sun ...

and i already hit reply.. and cant see.. where are you... NJ???

ken

We are in NJ zone 6a. Direction? Not totally sure, I think The white fence faces NE.

Alaskan cedar does really well in shade, but return them, because the deer will have an absolute field day with them.

For conifers I don't think there are many options, other than Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'Fastigiata' - Yew shrubs, but deer won't bother with these.

Luckily, you are in z6, so you can consider a bunch of different broad leaf evergreens. A couple decent choices are:
Aucuba japonica 'Variegata'
Buxus sempervirens 'Fastigiata' (I looked everywhere for this plant, finally found it for a decent price and excellent quality from Das Farms

Thanks so much! The gentleman at the nursery said they are deer resistsnt. I guess not!! I will look into the shrubs.

I was also going to say that Chamaecyparis nootkatensis is known to take some shade well. Deer resistance varies a lot by location. If SC77 and you are not in the same area, the effects may me different. Rutgers has a list of deer resistance in plants, but unforunately, it does not list nootka.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rutgers deer resistant plants

Whaas made a thread about an informative article on shade tolerant conifers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link