help --- newly planted emerald arbor vitae trees are dying

[WDH]

I would leave them in as they are slow release.  That is a gentle way to fertilize versus throwing out big handfuls of bagged fertilizer.  Sometimes, too much of a good thing is not a good thing, and too much fertilizer is worse than too little.  Moderation is the key.

The nutrient sticks will be OK unless you put out a whack (a Forestry Forum term that means a "very large amount or quantity").

[Roxie]

Well now, if you moved up from Florida 2 years ago, that means you got a real indoctrination into a Northeast winter last year.  Having survived that moves you from rookie to professional northerner.  Congratulations (I think)!   

Like the guys suggested, you can just mulch in those sticks with the trees and they'll be fine. 

[SwampDonkey]

We had a couple families of southerners come up to the far northeast and after the first winter I saw for sale signs.

[WDH]

Some Southerners (the ones who stay down here  ) are smarter than other Southerners  . 

[JHBC]

Hi, you've got lots of info already, but my cedar hedge has gone through spells like that.  Your's doesn't look too bad, those brown part are dead, and you can prune them off, but it's nothing to worry about unless the whole tree starts turning.  My problem was: not enough water during the summer, and I found working in some natural types of fert. like leaf mulch, bone meal, fish meal etc.  helped a lot.