We had 7 Japanese yews planted in March and 2 of them have branches that have turned brown. One is more significant than the other. The yews are about 4-5 feet tall and are planted close together. We want them to grow into a hedge with clean lines. They're on a drip sprinkler system that runs for about 50 minutes 4 times/week.

Any idea what the problem may be? Too much water - not enough? Can/should I trim the brown branches off?

Any other input/help/criticism/etc?

Where are you located?
How much afternoon sun do they get?
I know the answer but I will ask anyway, do you know the precip rate of the drip tubing? .4, .6, .9gph?

Houston. They get sun until about 3:30m. .53 gallons/hour is what contractor says. The drip is on for an hour 4x/week. He initially set that zone at 30 minutes but turned it up to 60 min when the Indian hawthornes which are in same zone didn't seem to be getting enough water. FWIW, a couple of those Indian hawthorns still look really bad too. Are the yews (and maybe hawthorns) maybe getting too much water? I appreciate the help!

pathetic self bump