Japanese Juniper dead?

Recently, I was just browsing the web when I came across and article about Junipers. In the article it said that Junipers can look descent well after there dead, and the only way to know was to scratch the bark. I scratched my bark, and sure enough. No green. Dam. What has me perplexed is that there is new growth in several areas. Can they even grow after there dead?

Thanks,
Joe

It is possible you have a live vein somewhere supporting new growth and you did the "scratch test" on a "dead" vein.

Where did you keep the tree??

FrankP999 wrote:It is possible you have a live vein somewhere supporting new growth and you did the "scratch test" on a "dead" vein.

I hope your right Frank, it was my first Bonsai and I've only killed one so far.

Ryan wrote:Where did you keep the tree??

It spent a little time (a month) in side when I first got it, about a year and a half ago. Then it had to spend 2 weeks this past summer inside as I was out of the country. It's been outside or cold storage on night's below 20 ever since. It is putting on new growth in several areas.

Here's a lousy picture. It is sickly, but I'm holding out hope.

From the photo it appears to be deceased, kaput, long gone, and dead. The unfortunate truth about bonsai is that the path to learning the art is strewn with the debris of dead trees.

Vance Wood wrote:From the photo it appears to be deceased, kaput, long gone, and dead.  The unfortunate truth about bonsai is that the path to learning the art is strewn with the debris of dead trees.

What he said.

It is not always the case with these kind of trees and bonsai, but more often than not, the tree was probably on the way out before you purchased it.

However; it is probable that you had something to do with the tree's death through a normal level of ignorance. You should not look on this as a condemnation but a revelation that anything worth doing is worth doing well and that you have to start at the basic level; that of keeping a tree alive in an hostile environment. Up front there are two things that you have to be concerned about: The first is water. You can kill a tree by watering it too much and you can kill a tree by watering it too little. The second is location: Junipers are temperate trees and must be kept outdoors all of the time. Exceptions are display issues but you have not learned enough to even think about this issue.

So if you could give us some sort of history of the tree as to how it was watered and where it was kept we might be able to help you. A lot of bonsai knowledge is couched in learning from experience: This worked---- and this did not! Sometimes "this did not" finalizes itself in a dead tree.

I'll admit I did a lot wrong, but I've learned enough that I've kept 5 other tree's alive since last October. I now use the chop stick method for watering. I took a much better picture:

ITS ALIVE!!!!  Barely, but based on the last picture, you do have some healthy new growth.  Full sun , good watering technique and time...good luck.

ps don't leave it on the AC unit  .

Dave Murphy wrote:ITS ALIVE!!!!  Barely, but based on the last picture, you do have some healthy new growth.  Full sun , good watering technique and time...good luck.

ps  don't leave it on the AC unit  .

LOL, I put it on the A/C to get a better picture out of the sun. It sits on a ESE facing bench.

I'm glad but the tree is not out of the woods yet; no pun intended.