Dying juniper?

[dmattar]

Hi,

I am a beginner at bonsai and started about 4ish months ago. I am getting slightly concerned because some of the foliage on one my junipers started to get dry, brittle and easy to remove but the majority of it (~95%) is still supple without a change of colour. I will try to take some more pictures when I can but the brittle/crispy foliage is at random spots around the outside of the tree.

I would like to know if there is some cause for concern or any preventative measures to take because I only started noticing it this week and began to mist the foliage. My two other junipers are doing fine.

As for what was done with this juniper:

• This juniper was purchased about 3 months ago and it had never been styled or potted previously

• I did the repotting about 2 months ago and it is wired in tightly although the angle is quite bad. About 40% of the mix in the pot is from the original sandy soil

• Some organic fertiliser was applied when I repotted. The potting mix is from Bunnings (bad choice, I know), mostly of pine bark compost but it has some wetting agent which I can't really do anything about now.

• A first styling was finished about a month ago but most of the canopy was left intact to avoid removing too much foliage. During the process, I removed a lot of brown/dead/weak foliage in the interior which was shaded out.

• I usually check the soil everyday and water when it starts to dry out beneath the surface (average every 3 days)

• The juniper is positioned outside with full morning sun and partial sun in the late afternoon but there is a high wind at night

• I don't really plan to do anything but feed, water and maintain it for at least a year before attempting any other styling

juniper.jpg

driest foliage.JPG

[Phil Rabl]

Welcome to the wonderful world of bonsai. You have a life of learning ahead of you, and if you are like me you will love that.

The juniper doesn't look like it is dying to me. They shed old needles and this may be what is happening. The photos show plenty of green foliage at the ends of the branches. I suggest you join a bonsai club and talk to experienced bonsai artists. They will know of reliable books and websites you could refer to. Also, check out the forum on Pines and Junipers on AusBonsai https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/viewforum.php?f=131

Hope it all works out for you.

[KIRKY]

I can’t see any dying bits in your pics, however it looks like you have some juvenile growth. Nothing to be concerned about. fyi in general we don’t feed when we repot due to the new roots could burn from the fertiliser.
Cheers
Kirky

[Watto]

Hi and welcome.
If you could put your location in your profile it would make it much easier to provide some advice/assistance to any questions you may have. Climate is key to when activities take place.
From what you have said I think the tree needs to rest and recover from all the interventions it has had so far. Sun and water are the most useful ingredients for successful to repotting, and maybe a bit of fertilizer later on. From what I can see it looks OK, but it needs to rest from further activities.
Enjoy the forum.

[dmattar]

Thanks for the replies so far. I have updated my profile to show the location and it has been a bit of a relief to hear that the needle loss is normal. I don't intend to do any further stylings or interventions for a good while until it settles into pot life and recovers.

[dmattar]

I have been lurking on the forums for a while but haven't posted much since this thread. Here's an update for this juniper since it might be useful postmortem info for beginners as I was also a beginner when I got this tree (still am).

Both 20+ year old junipers (one is pictured here) which I acquired from the same source died last year. Here's the rundown:

- The trees were grown in a bag and a gigantic taproot escaped into the ground for decades. When this was sold to me, there were hardly any feeder roots in the bag
- I didn't up-pot the junipers for a week because like a newb, I thought bonsai only go into bonsai pots which I was short on.
- I did a heavy styling. That green helmet monstrosity was created by cleaning and full wiring from a bush in a couple of sessions
-When it did rain, the soil never drained of moisture
-Both trees turned crispy in winter with very weak back budding. No new growth in spring.
-They probably died pretty quickly but junipers being junipers, I didn't know any better until ~4 months later
-When I checked the roots afterwards, there was almost no root growth.


I know that a lot of the same buyers had very weak/dying junipers after the dig but I am 99% sure that I could have prevented this with better aftercare. Here's what I would have done differently if I were to do it again:

- Since most of the roots for this tree were not actually in the pot, it should have been treated like a yamadori. I should have soaked the tree as soon as I found out with some foliage misting in the first week or so
-Don't cut the tree back so hard and preserve the growing tips as much as possible while balancing the foliage
-Pot into a planter box/nursery can asap with good substrate such as pumice with some sphagnum moss to promote root growth
-TLC and don't perform any dumb overboard styling for at least a growing season