two horrible winters in a row???

improper planting ... root bound large potted plants???

lawn chems sprays???

there are a lot of possibilities...

ken

You are at the lower end of their hardiness range. It is entirely possible that two consecutive colder than normal winters was too much for them.

Ugh. I was kind of thinking that would be the cause since they looked just fine in September/October. We originally wanted to plant a whole row in our backyard (the dead ones were up front) but now I am wondering if we should pick something else in case we get more super cold winters. We also lost a lovely arborvitae the year before because of a harsh winter. I am so sad. They had grown so tall and wide and were doing just what we needed them to do for our yard. I am at a loss of what we could plant that grows tall/wide and isn't a slow grower like yew.