Question
we recently dug up some conifers from a friends garden and replanted them in our own.however after three weeks they have turned almost completly brown.can we save them?

Answer
depends on where you live. in the southern hemisphere where winter now has arrived it would be all right. i'm in southern new jersey, USA. it wouldn't be a good time here.
probably can't save them. once they are all brown they are probably dead. you should have dug as much dirt w/the rootball as possible when transplanting this time of the year. then you should have watered them in w/at least 5 gal of water at least once a week(unless you had a lot of rain).
next time get a book from the library or info from the internet before you start a project. not after it's done...