OK, so the links did not work :(. Trying again to add pics.

where are you.. and how bad was winter??

is the black mulch new???

is it all interior or older leaves???

ken

I am in NJ. The winter was bad but I don;t think that's the issue as we had the same problem last year. It is not just older or interior leaves. The yellow seems to start on the edge of the leaves and they turn yellow and the whole branches die off.

Oh, and the mulch is new.

all i meant with the black mulch.. is that you changed the micro climate.. and PERHAPS ... stressed the older leaves ...

not that it will necessarily have a long term effect on a shrub ...

ken

Sorry, I was away for few days and did not have time to check responses.

The bushes are doing terrible. The bigger one Silver King that has been there longer actually looks OK but the two smaller Silver Queen look horrible.

Is there anything we can do to save them? We are pretty much ready to just pull them out but not sure what to replace them with. :(

Any ideas what to do with those bushes? The new growth leaves are dropping and they are not even yellow, they are still green. We had some major rains and when we did not I did water them well.

Have you checked the stems for insect pests like scale?

Agree with above comment....how about an extreme closeup shot of some branches/leaves. Euonymous are prone to infection by scale and mealy bug insects-two intractable pests which actually can be managed, hence are not really intractable, lol, by various means. I like super-lightweight horticultural oils, possibly mixed with a little neem or insecticidal soap, as a starting point, that if the plants are actually infested with scale. If you can, provide us that closeup view.

+oM

I don't see any bugs but maybe I don;t know what I'm looking for? The leaves seem to have some sort of dots on them.

Thank you for all your help.

An insect of a type with "piercing/sucking" mouth parts has been at it, or possibly, spider mites, which feed in the same fashion. That's the stipling you see on theleaf surfaces, little tiny abrasions where the insect (or mite) roughed up a patch of cells and then sucked out the plant juices. Short of taking it into your county extension person for a positive ID (county extension agents-remember them?), you could go ahead and treat with some fairly innocuous materials-insecticidal soaps, horticultural light oils, neem extract, etc. You won't be killing off all the good bugs in your yard with these items, but may get decent control.

+oM

Thank you. I did have some soap spray so they are now sprayed. As I was out there I looked at the bigger bush that seems OK and noticed that it has scales. Need to buy more insect spray :( but in the long run might have to consider replacing those with some other evergreen bushes.

Yes, in my experience, spider mites are pretty hard to control as both the tops and undersides of the leaves need to be sprayed, which is difficult. Scale is fairly easy to control. I have ripped out a 2 year old holly hedge in the past because scale and, mostly, spider mites were such a problem. I have only 3 male hollies left, which I spray with AVID in the spring and treat with a systemic post flowering. Good luck indeed but you may want to think about a plant that requires less maintenance.