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When I returned from a weeklong retreat last weekend, the housemate I'd asked to care for Eustace-hime told me the tree was dead. I don't know if she's correct or not. She told me the branches of a live tree would always bend. I can feel that indeed they feel brittle, but the needles of my Japanese juniper are green, except for some browning towards the base.

I've continued to water my tree at mornings and evenings, and to take her outside whenever the temperature rises above freezing. (This tree was a xmas gift, so I doubt it had entered dormancy.)

My housemate also pointed out that not much water had passed through the pot. I don't know how much drainage I ought to expect, whether the apparent dryness of my bonsai may confirm that it is, in fact, dead.

How should I tell if my tree is still alive?

scratch the trunk of the tree with a fingernail. if there is green under the bark the tree is alive. if not the tree is dead. If I dare venture a guess, I'd say it's already dead.Watering it morning and evening is a bad thing. the fact that it had not entered dormancy and you bring it outside is alarming .the change in temp is enough to shock and kill it.. It's winter in new York.You can't just put a tree outside. look at my post on this forum "dormancy explained"
The needles are turning brown is another bad sign.
Sorry to be so pessimistic.
Good luck,
Lance

Yeah man, sorry to say but i think its dead, trees like pines tend to look fine even though they are dying, needles take forever to show that they are dead, if you take a walk in a pine forest you will notice needles that are lying on the floor are even green

I imagine you could be right, but a friend encouraged me to keep watering it. We took some pictures this week; as you can see, the needles still have some green. If the tree is indeed dead, sharing these pictures may still help new people to recognize it. But maybe, seeing how it looks now, you might be able to confirm my friend's assertion that it is alive?

Sorry to say but it looks pretty dead to me.

that looks well dead, but ive never grown a juniper before. But ive often heard if the leaves look dead on a juniper the plant is most likely already dead.

Yeah, that looks a lot like the failed junipers I pulled from my cuttingsbed today. I give you about .5% chance that there is still life in there. You COuld put it in the garden and let it sit there for a few months, just to be sure. but don't get your hopes up.

Thanks, I appreciate your evaluations. It's time to move on.

Recognizing a death tree could indeed be useful in some cases, but it's far more important to recognize the cause of death. The health of plants is almost always related to the quality of the root system and the soil it stands in. From what I can tell from these pictures, this case is no exception. I'm afraid a number of serious mistakes where made with the potting off this tree.
First off all: The entire rootball should be covered with soil with an exception of the so called "nebari". You should not be able to see juvenile roots coming up from the soil.
Second: The soil should be a homogeneous mixture to prevent the forming off air bubbles or wet spots.
Third: The soil should be porous enough to drain any access water away and to allow enough oxygen to come to the roots while still holding enough water for the tree to drink. Normally a mixture off 1/2 akadama and 1/2 kiryu would do very well for junipers.
Fourth: Trees that are recently repotted should be taken special care off. They should be kept from direct sunlight, protected from frost and strong winds and should not be fed during during the first 3 to 5 weeks after repotting.