how about a picture.. to see the situation

ken

No. I'd recommend trying to fix the drainage. The list of deer resistant evergreens is painfully small. If the area is shady, the list becomes ever smaller. At some point, the list contains exactly one plant - boxwood.

If you are open to perennials or deciduous shrubs, there are options. Are you?

Yeah, fix the drainage first.

Mike

Here's the photo. I can tell the same 8 box woods are declining again. I probably should just fix the drainage. There's a spot where the walkway dips and all the rain run off from the driveway puddles. There is a drain, but it is not longer at the lowest point. It's full sun and I am really open to any alternatives as long as the deer won't eat it. Also no annuals - I don't want to replant every year!

I don't see why drainage would be a problem based on the picture. It looks like their growing area is raised compared to the lawn.

Okay, it took a while but now I see the dip in the walkway. You might wanna take care of that first before the plant substitution. Still, hard to think this would be the ultimate cause for failure. If people have to almost cross a moat to get to the house, well yes, guess your plants would be suffering too.

I use Dwarf English Box too because of deer. Pretty easy shrubs so you might wanna continue with them after the drainage is corrected. You might also consider Osmanthus heterophyllus 'goshiki'. But first, what is your sunlight situation?

(Btw, You've actually gotten rain; we are in growing drought here.)

Wouldn't Yaupon Holly look great there?

bean,

Have someone come and fix the walkway.

The walkway has to be safe, for you and visitors. See if the box woods do better, and don't forget to water them if you don't have rain.

By the way, the box woods look really nice with your home style.

Look around area to see which evergreen shrubs are not being eaten?

Thanks everyone! When it rains, there is a moat to cross walking to the front door! In the summer it drains within a few hours. However in the winter, there can be a slushy puddle there for days from snow melt. The boxwoods near the driveway are full sun, all day. The ones closer to the house get a few hours of morning shade. Could they be getting too much sun? I'm also wondering if something living in the soil is eating the roots. I don't see any evidence of bugs on the leaves.

Allen456, I just realized I have a dwarf yaupon holly at the other end of the house. That would be a great option if the boxwoods continue to fail.

A puddle , or moat in this case, on a walkway at any time of the year is a mistake. The landscaper made a mistake when the topsoil was brought up higher than where the walkway drained. The designer didn't take that into account when he had a row of boxwoods cross the walkway drainage point.

The hard surface drainage point should have been spelled out in the drawing and all decisions from that point on should reflect that.

Kind of points out the frailties of formal design.

Mike