Hello there,
I'm hoping you can provide some 'Master Gardener' advice - I live in Cascades / Sterling area in Loudoun County
Last year, I planted 5 Skip Laurel bushes to form a hedge along a fence in my backyard. The plants came from a local nursery, and were of a pretty good size when planted - 3 or 4 feet or so, with a good size root ball that was wrapped in burlap when I brought them home - and I planted them early last summer. The area they are planted in is mostly shaded - with a few hours of direct sunlight. After I planted them early last summer, I watered them following the label instructions. This summer, I've been watering them maybe once a week ... trying to make sure the soil dries out before watering them again (because I read these skip laurel plants don't like to have overly moist soil). I used a generic solid / slow release shrub fertilizer in the spring (Vigoro Tree and Shrub fertilizer stakes) according to the package instructions

They looked pretty good and healthy up till this spring ... of the 5 plants, one in particular seems to be thriving, 2 seem to be fine, 1 seems really sick, and another seems kind of sick ... and I'm hoping for some help! These pictures were taken in the end of May ... showing all 5 of these plants to be healthy with lots of leaves.

Picture A : Healthy plants in May

This is the '1 plant that seems really sick' 

Starting maybe 6 weeks ago, I started noticing some of the leaves starting to yellow ... then over a few weeks browning and dying. The leaves this happened to were all off the same shoot / branch - and this happened a few places around the plant. I pruned the dead shoots back ... but it seems like the leaves on more shoots are becoming affected in the same way ... I'm noticing now more consistent yellowing of the leaves throughout the plant. Before I started paying more attention to this plant, maybe a month ago - I did notice it (and some of the others) had dropped a number of leaves. These pictures were taken this week 

Picture 1: 'Really Sick Plant' 

Picture 2: 'Really Sick Plant' .. note the browning leaves are localized to an individual branch / shoot. This has happened to a few shoots and I've pruned them back 

This is the '1 plant that seems kind of sick' Within the last week, I'm noticing that this plant is starting to show some of the yellowing leaves and dying shoots that my 'really sick' plant is showing ... and I'm worried this one is circling the drain too! 

Picture 4: 'Kind-of sick plant'... I'm starting to see minor yellowing of the leaves. One shoot on the back of the plant has browned up and died ... but this plant does seem generally still healthier than my 'really sick plant'

The plant in the middle of these two is doing quite fine! it is putting out new growth and seems pretty vigorous it is growing new growth and looks green and healthy. It does probably get more direct sunlight than the others

Can you help me figure out what's going on here? I'm really keen on growing these plants healthy and tall, as they are needed to block an unwanted view

Thank you,