Juniper dead (yeh o neh?)

The tips of the foliage on one of my junipers were getting brown and I couldnt figure out why. I found out that it was root rot due to poor soil from nursery. So I did an emergency summer repot knowing this is a 50/50 chance. All the foliage is brown now but I scratched the trunk and its still "alive". Will it come back to life or is it slowing dying?

RIP

Crap! I some how, deep down inside knew it was a goner. I have the worst time with junipers and they are suppose to be beginner trees haha. Thanks Billy

Usually once you start to see browning, dead foliage on a Juniper, it's too late.

Please describe the care of your tree, where kept, watering, fertilizer, etc.

Good to know. Im definitely am taking a break from the juniper game, maybe later in life

Billy,

The dead one?

Jake16 wrote:Good to know. Im definitely am taking a break from the juniper game, maybe later in life

Billy,

The dead one?

Yes

Boxwoods are great beginner material.

When I first started with bonsai, I "tried" to keep juniper material, and none of them thrived for me. Now, they are my favorite subject. Once you get your soil mix, watering, and positioning for sun exposure set, they are rock solid and great to work with.

Dave Murphy wrote:When I first started with bonsai, I "tried" to keep juniper material, and none of them thrived for me. Now, they are my favorite subject. Once you get your soil mix, watering, and positioning for sun exposure set, they are rock solid and great to work with.

And repotting, fertilizer, etc. Yes they can be great but they do require the proper care. The problem is that most people don't realize they have a problem until too late.

Yeah I should of repotted it when I got it but it seemed fine in the nursery mix. I put some slow release fert on it, sun until midday then a sun screen to make sure its not to much, water when it dries out some but not to much

Russell,

I have a boxwood it was doing fine but it also is drying up, completely on one side and some on the other. I dont know what is happening to that one either. It seems to have stopped now.

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:The problem is that most people don't realize they have a problem until too late.

You can have a needle juniper have a root issue and you may not find out about it for months...unbelievable! I don't keep many junipers due to this particular foible of theirs.
-Jay

drgonzo wrote:

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:The problem is that most people don't realize they have a problem until too late.

You can have a needle juniper have a root issue and you may not find out about it for months...unbelievable! I don't keep many junipers due to this particular foible of theirs.
-Jay

Yes you can, and you can even buy a collected tree (scale or needle) that has been under kept under shade netting that appears totally green from the winter through summer - but it can be a dead tree - as soon as the tree is put in full sun it can die in 3 weeks - This is important to know when buying collected trees - if they are in the shade and offered for sale there and then be suspicous.........if the tree is great see if the seller will put it in full sun for a month, then buy it if you have popped in a few times to make sure it has stayed in the sun

After the major restyle of my needle juniper this year i put it under shade netting and every part was green for 6-8 weeks, i knew some branches must be damaged from some severe bends so put it in full sun to kill off quickly bits that would die slowly anyway and sure enough 2 or 3 smaller branches browned off quite soon.

Certainly not a reason to avoid junipers though - the essentials are correct soil, plenty of water, loads of feed - mist the foliage regularly in hot weather and you cant stop them growing

cheers Marcus

Marcus,

I ran into a large specimen needle juniper for sale earlier this year. The vendor kept telling me how healthy it was, though i saw no new growth. They even invited me to make an offer if I thought the asking price was too high....

After a little while longer of me not biting they were ready to throw in the custom made display table it was sitting on as part of the deal!

As I say Junipers aren't my thing. But yeah watch out for the pushy juniper vendors of the world.
-Jay

Jay, someone did buy that juniper (assuming it was the big one we saw at the National show). Hope it was healthy! I didn't examine it that closely.

I have to say, so far I'm finding junipers to be difficult. I haven't lost any...yet...but mine just don't look very good. I have a couple of small procumbens 'nana' and the foliage is usually quite pale looking and growth not vigorous. Also have a couple of shimpakus and they look better (greener) but don't seem to be thriving either. I will note that I've seen many procumbens 'nana' that look similar to mine, so I don't think I'm the only one having issues.

This was a borderline mallsai that came from there bonsai section with "s" curve junipers .and other poorly designed/ care for trees. Next tinge im just gonna have to watch what I buy from nurseries

hi all,

needle junipers cant be left to just grow or they go thin, weeping and leggy. The first flush of growth should be allowed to grow 5-10cm, then scissor cut back to 2-3mm - lots of new buds form, most of these need pinching off, lots more form and these are the ones you keep but still shorten strong ones. It is because you remove so much of the new years growth repeatedly that the tree needs seriously heavy feeding. old needles will yellow and drop off mid summer too, but a well fed tree will then bud back on the bare branches. 2-3 times per week foliar feeds, permanent slow release pot feeds etc get real results

Scale junipers are a bit different - they are badly weakened if more than 25% of the foliage is removed in one styling, 10% is better. Myself and a few friends believe constant pinching of new growth is totally wrong and steadily weakens branches - let them grow then use sharp scissors to cut back to maintain the desired outlines. Scale trees behave better when slightly pot bound too, but still respond to lots of feed, water and misting for me. Friends who went down the 'cat litter' route ruined many junipers - so I personally would be wary of using 100% anything as the soil mix. Ph though makes no differnce as they grow on chalk in the Uk, limestone in Japan, granite in many mountain ranges and everything in between. Foliar feeding though gets the colour popping and humidity/moisture is essential - they go a really dull pale green colour if left too dry.

i honestly think your junipers should be more heavilly fed than all other bonsai in your collection - feeding has nothing to do with juvenile foliage - stress and overpruning cause this

cheers Marcus