Leyland cypress turned brown-help!
 

I read several posts about Leyland Cypress turning yellow. We bought twelve
last year to hide the view of a chain link fence and a school- we bought the
property for privacy, and then the school bought behind us and cleared twelve
acres of trees. The guy doing work for the school was supposed to clear our
property for us (it was all scrub and weeds, and we were going to develop it
ourselves anyway) because the heavy equipment was already there. Anyway. he
never did the work, and we had to winter over the trees. In hindsight, I know
what we did wrong- we didn't bury the pots or mulch them. They were green all
winter, until last month when they all turned brown. They are still soft, not
brittle. My husband called a local nursery, and was told to fertilize them
with Hollytone. We did that two weeks ago, and they look a little greener. Do
you think they can be saved?

Thanks,
Caroline
SE of Pittsburgh, Pa. Zone 5