Dying Juniper

[Webos]

Gday Guys,
Have a very temperamental Juniper, very large. Since i lifted it from the ground over a year ago, it has sat somewhere on the borderline between life and death but when I cut it back and did an emergency repot 6 months ago, it shot back like crazy with beautiful juvenile foliage all over. Over the past month or two, the shoots have turned brown and the bark has shrivelled. The tree looks dead.

This morning I scratched some of the wrinkly bark back and noticed green in the cambium layer indicating that it still has blood in its veins.. I think the problem is that it still has quite a bit of old clay from the yamadori site stuck around its root base and it is holding too much water.

Any suggestions as to what I should do? Should I bare root, stick it in the ground?

Thanks

[Bretts]

If it has no live foliage left I believe it is only a matter of time before the signs of life disapear from the trunk.

[Webos]

Are you telling me to give up?? NEVER!!!!

[Bretts]

I am saying that you should not have let the foliage die

[Webos]

Brett...why didnt you give me that advice a year ago before I lost my Scotts, Metasequoia, Junipers, etc. If the foliage hadnt died on them, I'd still have all of them!

[Bretts]

Know ya know But do you know why you lost the foliage

[Webos]

I think it was old clayey soil from when I dug it up still packed around the rootball. Didnt want to bare root it when i dug it. i think it was holding too much water and rotting roots. Have jut given the roots a spray off, new soil, shady spot, hope for the best. Not expecting anything to happen but will wait and see what happens.

[Jamie]

if the bark is shrivelled and wrinkly i am sorry to say but the cambium even though green has lost the ablity to transfer nutrients and that is why the foliage has turned brown, i have found with junipers this is generally a root problem, keep them on the drier side and they like it better.
if you have any foliage on the tree that is still grean and healthy that may be the only part that is left alive, if the bark on the branches are smooth and the trunk is smooth still, not wrinkled at all you may have a chance.

try get all the old crap out and repot with a fresh free draining mix if there is anything left alive.


jamie

[Webos]

Exactly my thoughts, have done so and will wait and see..

[Jamie]

Exactly my thoughts, have done so and will wait and see..

so was there any parts to the tree that seemed alive? i mean with no wrinkle and green soft foliage?

it is a matter of time for sure, i hope its not that ripper one i seen a while back..

can use the dead wood for tanuki if need be though. i dont like to waste

jamie

[craigw60]

With conifers once they start to show signs of deterioration they are already dead. This is not always the case but is often.
Craig

[Jamie]

very true craig, i have junipers that appered alive but have been dead. they can seem alive for six months or more before showing any signs of problems and it is generally to late like craig has said.

[micksta9]

For some time before i considered myself into bonsai all i did was Junipers, from my experience soil is the key. Some people may disagree but from my experience half river sand half potting mix is what they love. let the soil dry out between watering, and slow release fertiliser. Once they are waterlogged they die sorry to say, but good luck you never know i hope this isn't the case.

[anttal63]

Wrinkled Bark, Call Tobin brothers and get ya rosary beads out! amen

[bonzaidog]

Webos...If it croaks, is it worth keeping for deadwood/carving in a later project?....Dog.