re: Need some serious help with landscaping. (Pics included)

It certainly is possible to over water, and I would guess as many newly installed plants are killed by excessive watering than lack of watering, particularly in heavy clay, poorly draing soils. You said you negectled the yard for a while you dealt with health issues, but you also said you have drip irrigation - was it operating while you “neglected” the landscape?

The close up photo of the trunk of the young red oak tree kind of looks like it may have been planted to deep - I don’t see the root flare - in poorly drained soils it’s important to make sure the base of the trees/shrubs are slightly elevated, usually several inches, above soil grade. Not saying that is your issue - hard to tell from the photos. Did you install the landscape? I’d suggest moving the mulch a couple feet back from the tree trunks to expose the root flare.

Really one good heavy soaking of water of at least 1 inch plus, per week, in the absence of rain, is all that is required, maybe twice in extreme heat. Heavy watering daily is not good - shrubs and trees can be damaged from root rot (lack of oxygen to roots from excessive watering).

There are a couple posters on this board from DWF, one a landscape architect, Zappas Stache, and another a lawn specialist, ronk, that will be more familiar with the weather patterns you’ve been experiencing in DWF and can hopefully weigh in with suggestions.

Honestly, for the couple dead shrubs, it doesn’t look super bad to me, newly planted shrubs and tree will suffer some transplant shock, particularly when not planted in winter - key is to get them through the first summer while they settle in and develop a good root structure in the surrounding native soil.