Juniper not looking right

Frogger05

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In the last four to six weeks my juniper has started to brown near the base of the shoots. And lost some of its shoots near the very tip of the plants. Also I notice some roots are sticking up from the soil. None of this was the case last winter. This is my first winter with a juniper. It was wintered in a non insulated non heated shed. Watered every two weeks.
 

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Shibui

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Those brown needles down at the base of the shoots looks normal to me. Even though juniper is evergreen, individual leaves are only good for a couple of years. When they start to get old the tree switches them off and they die. In the meantime new leaves have grown from the tips of the shoots so the tree always has fresh, active leaves.
You can see that this means continuous growing for evergreen trees. Eventually you will have long, bare branches - not very attractive for bonsai. Growing evergreen bonsai is a continual process of growing then cutting back to maintain the desired shape. Long outer shoots are removed and inner ones replace them to keep the compact shape.

I'm sure someone will post a reference to a better explanation or tute with pics.
 

Frogger05

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Ok. Thank you. I did not realize that. I hope everything is ok and I’m just to new to it to know.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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The photos are small, but nothing on them looks alarming. Add your location to your profile; not sure where you are, but watering every 2 weeks in the wintertime is pretty scarce water. It’s going to need more in warm weather outside.
 

Frogger05

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The photos are small, but nothing on them looks alarming. Add your location to your profile; not sure where you are, but watering every 2 weeks in the wintertime is pretty scarce water. It’s going to need more in warm weather outside.
I’m in southeast Missouri. This time of year outside it will be watered every two days. Once temps reach the 90’s it will be watered every day. It is in an all inorganic soil that drains extremely quickly.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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I’m in southeast Missouri. This time of year outside it will be watered every two days. Once temps reach the 90’s it will be watered every day. It is in an all inorganic soil that drains extremely quickly.
Good, that’s about right. I think your Juniper is fine. It will shed interior needles from now until mid-May.
 

awegrzyn

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Older post, new to this, not sure what I'm doing. My juniper is doing the exact same thing. Reassured to read it is likely doing fine, however my question is why, when I received it in the mail (Amazon Christmas gift, don't make fun;) it was perfectly green and "healthy" looking everywhere, aside from maybe 5 needles that were brown. Is that stress due to change of environment, or possible time of year?
 

Leprous Garden

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Or both. It's unlikely your growing environment is like the one it came from and travel is a stressor as well. All evergreens shed some needles through the winter, but those changes could absolutely accelerate the process.
 
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