Are there dogs in your neighborhood? Urine burn looks like that.

They are "pruned" in retail to be pointy shaped, not to remove lower foliage like that- that's unsightly and it will never fill in.

Regardless it is way too close to the house- these conifers get quite large and wide.

I'd have zero hesitation in digging that out and tossing it.

It's the wrong plant in the wrong spot.

get rid of it..

and build some proper foundation beds if you wish to landscape ... and then replant with proper plants for the space you create ..

ken

i'll see how they do for the rest of the year. I did not plant these nor purchase them.

At the very least, kill off the grass around the tree and mulch it. You can easily do this by wetting a few layers of newspaper, arranging them around the tree and putting mulch over it.