How to bring back a dead Juniper

[SouthernMaple]

So I bought my brother a Juniper this Xmas, he wanted a tree that was low maintenance, I thought since he had a full time gardner and his grounds looked nice that just maybe he would get into Bonsai and like it, I bought him a book, a beautiful tree some wire, soil, the whole nine yards. Well after visiting him this weekend I got him a less expensive tropical and swapped it out for the Juniper. It looks to be dead and a waste of time but I am going to try and bring it back, Anyone have any serious suggestions other than lighting it on fire?

 

[shimbrypaku]

Doesn’t look good
Best of luck to you

 

[Tieball]

I think it would make a mighty fine fire video. But....I’m sure someone else has a better idea than fire. It's kinda dead mostly now...but there may be a small opportunity for a reincarnation of some sort. Don’t get your hopes up to high though. Give it a try. And if that doesn’t work....invite your brother over for a campfire chat and a lot of laughs with a ceremonial burning. Which would be a great memory and a topic of a lot of conversations he’d have later....a lot of good family humor.

With a ceremony he is not holding his head down in defeat. He gets to laugh.

 

[penumbra]

No hope for that juniper .... none.
Sorry.

 

[SouthernMaple]

So I repotted it into some akadama, pumice and river rock the roots were rotted and fell off as easily as the foliage, but there were atleast two fists full of healthy roots, I brushed a gloved hand through the entire foliage and what didn't fall off is still on the tree, I think yall are right, it looks dead as dead, but one of my favorite things about bonsai is reviving an almost dead tree, I have done it with maples with ease, conifers we will see I guess. Any other tips in reviving it?

 

[SouthernMaple]

I think it would make a mighty fine fire video. But....I’m sure someone else has a better idea than fire. It's kinda dead mostly now...but there may be a small opportunity for a reincarnation of some sort. Don’t get your hopes up to high though. Give it a try. And if that doesn’t work....invite your brother over for a campfire chat and a lot of laughs with a ceremonial burning. Which would be a great memory and a topic of a lot of conversations he’d have later....a lot of good family humor.

With a ceremony he is not holding his head down in defeat. He gets to laugh.

hes not that type of person. His accomplishments far outweigh anything I could ever do. I kind of think he killed it on purpose to make me sad.

 

[Pitoon]

If he didn't take care of the juniper why did you give him another plant?

 

[SouthernMaple]

If he didn't take care of the juniper why did you give him another plant?

Because I think he would be really good at it

 

[Lorax7]

Pluck the remaining foliage off the branches. Bring it indoors and let it dry out for a few days. Get out your craft glue and go find that sad old artificial Christmas tree that's still up in the attic (the one that nobody ever got around to throwing away even though you bought a new one on sale at Home Depot 3 years ago). Pluck artificial foliage off the old artificial Christmas tree. Glue it onto branches in an approximately tree-like distribution. Let the glue dry. Now you have an indoor bonsai that never needs to be watered. Bonsai is the art of illusion.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Bonsai seems pretty close to the top of the list as to what NOT to gift in hopes of fostering interest.

 

[Ruve]

Hello.

Unfortunate circumstances call for fortunate solutions.

Scratch the bark. If it's green underneath, there is hope.

Cut off the rotten roots.

Get some kind of container with as many holes as possible for aeration.

Fill it with just sphagnum moss.

Put the tree in it.

Water it in, then like normal (when it starts to dry)

You'll have decent root growth in a couple of months.

Sphagnum moss is tree medicine, good luck.

Tommy

 

[Arnold]

Sorry but when a Juniper its that bad ussually they are already dead they keep green sucking the ambient moist but very low chances to grow back

 

[Eckhoffw]

A shame. Looks like it was a nice tree.
I have one that is taking the same path.
oh well. Lots more trees out there.
As @Ruve mentioned, I would be curious to see if ‘Peter Chan’s famous moss trick’ would have any chance.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I kind of think he killed it on purpose to make me sad.

This statement makes me sad. If it is true, your brother is an ass.

However, in terms of your juniper, the only thing you can do is to treat it like a newly collected tree with impaired roots. That means keep it in bright indirect lighting, high humidity, mist the foliage, and cut back on watering the soil almost completely. Treat it like a juniper cutting.

It's really hard to gift someone a bonsai and have them fall in love with the art form. It's like buying someone a mountain bike because you want them to go riding with you If they liked the idea enough, they would buy their own bike. Then after a year you could buy them a nice hydration pack or some bike shoes If people like the idea of bonsai enough, they can buy their own trees - or collect them - and then you can help them on the journey. I would never buy my wife a bonsai tree for this very reason. She just wouldn't be into it, and I would be creating an emotional liability for her - where she would feel if she didn't care for or love the tree, she would be hurting my feelings. She likes looking at my trees... and that's it. So make sure you are gifting bonsai for the right reasons - because the other person wants them, instead of because you want them to want them

Two days ago I was visiting a fellow tree lover. I brought him a tree as a gift. He was super excited. He gave me a cool landscape plant and a tree that he grew from a cutting he brought home from Japan. I am super excited. That's the way it's supposed to work

 

[Tieball]

Move on. It’s dead.

 

[SouthernMaple]

I guess I could practice my jin technique on it like

This statement makes me sad. If it is true, your brother is an ass.

However, in terms of your juniper, the only thing you can do is to treat it like a newly collected tree with impaired roots. That means keep it in bright indirect lighting, high humidity, mist the foliage, and cut back on watering the soil almost completely. Treat it like a juniper cutting.

It's really hard to gift someone a bonsai and have them fall in love with the art form. It's like buying someone a mountain bike because you want them to go riding with you If they liked the idea enough, they would buy their own bike. Then after a year you could buy them a nice hydration pack or some bike shoes If people like the idea of bonsai enough, they can buy their own trees - or collect them - and then you can help them on the journey. I would never buy my wife a bonsai tree for this very reason. She just wouldn't be into it, and I would be creating an emotional liability for her - where she would feel if she didn't care for or love the tree, she would be hurting my feelings. She likes looking at my trees... and that's it. So make sure you are gifting bonsai for the right reasons - because the other person wants them, instead of because you want them to want them

Two days ago I was visiting a fellow tree lover. I brought him a tree as a gift. He was super excited. He gave me a cool landscape plant and a tree that he grew from a cutting he brought home from Japan. I am super excited. That's the way it's supposed to work

well he has the means and the resources to be very good. He also flies to Japan on his private jet twice a year for business, so maybe it would be easier to talk him into flying me home a tree or two. Bonsai for me has been a real life saver, 6 years ago I was on suicide watch, a failed engagement, failed career, I found out I couldn't have kids, my life was in the toilet oh yeah and my dog got out the electric fence and got hit by a car. I was a mess. Bonsai is a huge part of my life now and when I look at this Juniper I see myself in it, how I was so close to death. I know it may die on me but I m going to try to revive it. What else am I going to do?

I was thinking this morning could this be a candidate for grafting onto? Or is it too late into the year?

 

[PA_Penjing]

I'm glad you're trying to revive it, not sure if grafting it is a good idea right now though. Just treat it like a cutting til it's definitely coming back well or totally dead. Was a pretty nice starter tree, actually I just like it, even without the prefix "starter"

 

[penumbra]

Sphagnum moss is tree medicine,

This much is true and it is highly underrated.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Bonsai for me has been a real life saver, 6 years ago I was on suicide watch, a failed engagement, failed career, I found out I couldn't have kids, my life was in the toilet oh yeah and my dog got out the electric fence and got hit by a car.

Well I'm glad that it has been such a positive experience! I've got some trees that I almost killed that I am attached to even though they bear the scars of my earlier abuses Of course try!

The only thing worse than a failed engagement is a failed marriage. Better to get out early than have to try to force something that just wasn't meant to be. And the last woman I knew who found out she couldn't have kids now has two, so never say never. Just don't base the rest of your life on this particular juniper because the odds are long. Even bonsai masters kill trees.

After killing many trees when starting out, I felt like I had created a bit of moral baggage for myself However once you stop killing trees, if you start taking cuttings and air-layers, you suddenly find yourself creating a LOT more trees than you kill. In fact, you end up wondering "where am I going to keep all these damn trees?!" So don't let one dead juniper get you down.

 

[SouthernMaple]

Well I'm glad that it has been such a positive experience! I've got some trees that I almost killed that I am attached to even though they bear the scars of my earlier abuses Of course try!

The only thing worse than a failed engagement is a failed marriage. Better to get out early than have to try to force something that just wasn't meant to be. And the last woman I knew who found out she couldn't have kids now has two, so never say never. Just don't base the rest of your life on this particular juniper because the odds are long. Even bonsai masters kill trees.

After killing many trees when starting out, I felt like I had created a bit of moral baggage for myself However once you stop killing trees, if you start taking cuttings and air-layers, you suddenly find yourself creating a LOT more trees than you kill. In fact, you end up wondering "where am I going to keep all these damn trees?!" So don't let one dead juniper get you down.

thanks for the advice, I just really like the trunk of this particular tree and would hate to see it go to waste, if it dies it gives me a reason to buy another. I could also preserve the wood and turn it into a wood sculpture/tanuki if all else fails.