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Hello all,

My wife and I are very new to bonsai, but her grandfather has been training trees for years. When we last visited him in CA (we live in TN), he took us to a nursery to pick out a tree of our own. We chose a juniper (I believe a common juniper) that we then drove across the country and have kept in Nashville for about 9 months.

Recently (since February) we have noticed the tree's color fading and needles yellowing, browning, or graying. At first we believed this was due to overwatering (it rains a lot in TN), so we have been letting the tree dry indoors. We have seen little improvement, but overall needles have gone from grayish to yellowish.

The tree was kept outdoors, uncovered until about December, at which point we brought it indoors. We have very wet, very cold winters in Nashville and have struggled finding a good outdoor position for the tree that would be both sunny and dry. At this point I'm very concerned about losing the tree and I'm afraid further experimentation with location (without consulting a more experienced community) could lead to this.

I've attached some photos and could use some community advice -- help me diagnose this tree and figure out a plan of action to save it! Is it too dry? Too wet?

Cheers,

Jackson

You should never have taken it indoors. Is it outdoors now?

No, because there's rain coming in. Should it be outdoors and covered?

Generally speaking, knowing the species of tree helps you to look up its winter hardiness and determine what your overwintering strategy should be. Your Juniper should be just fine outdoors all winter. You may want to insulate the pot. You might want to put it on a porch, under an overhang, etc to avoid being too wet for too long. My Junipers have survived Philly winters (also wet) sitting in our raised bed gardens with their pots covered with leaves - no real protection from the rain (our soil is very well draining).
Many evergreens change colors during their winter dormancy. I have a needle-type Juniper that turns a grayish purple, but my scale Juniper is still green but looks a little dull. A good practice for evergreens is to observe the established (in ground) trees in your area that are similar to your bonsai for indicators of appropriate color and 'gloss' for the season/week.

Good luck.

... what they say and get rid of the pebbles/stones.
Why on earth did you take it indoors???? In my part of the world i dont see too many trees in the forest ( or any tree ) migrate indoors for the winter... .

trees do get rained on, it will not be as detrimental as having it in such un natural environment as a house.

It is all water under the birdge I am afraid. This plant has died.

leatherback wrote: It is all water under the birdge I am afraid. This plant has died.

Parts of it are dead, I'm sure, like that strangely wired and shaped top branch, but it seems there's still some life left in the lower branches? Not that I think it'll survive.

I'm sad to hear the prospects are bleak. Does anyone have any tips on helping it survive, even if parts are dead?