Is this juniper dead?

[forg0t]

Hey all,

I just took in this tree from my brother after seeing how neglected it was. He claimed that he kept it outdoors with enough watering everyday but the tree says otherwise. It has mostly browned but I do see some slightly green foliage still fighting, is there anything I can do for this guy?

I am in California and have a Southwest facing balcony that gets a good amount of sun. The tree is always outside except for right now when I took these photos. But this would be my first bonsai.

A lot of the dead leaves/branches break off if I touch them, should I just remove them all or will that do more harm? The more green ones are much sturdier and do not fall off.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutonian]

Indubitably

 

[Lutonian]

Looks like it has been dead for a while, junipers can die and stay green for months

 

[forg0t]

Yeah that's what I thought but I'd hate to toss it with such a beautiful trunk. Guess nothing else can be done for it?

 

[pandacular]

Only thing that be done for it is to reuse that FREE POT!

And next time, remember that bonsai are not inside plants (with the exception of tropicals when given excellent care)

Apologies, I read your post over again and realized you did have it outside. In that case, might be worth thinking about what could've caused it to die; but i'm not an expert there

 

[forg0t]

Yeah I'm not too sure what caused it's death. The rest of my brothers garden has been flourishing, but this was the only bonsai he had and I'm not expert on bonsais myself. Maybe the heat did it?

We have had a lot of heat waves in the past year or so.

Could've been overwatered as well, although the soil does look like it's more quick draining.

 

[pandacular]

Where are you located? if you plan on sticking around, you can add that info to your profile to help users address your posts better.

I would be surprised if it was heat directly, but it could be underwatering as a result of heat for sure.

 

[forg0t]

I just updated my account info. Bay area, California. 9b hardzone

 

[Shogun610]

Yes

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Yes it is dead. You need to have a bonfire. There are "dead bonsai tree fire" threads on the site somewhere.

Don't feel too bad... I lost 41 trees last winter when we had record-breaking cold and I was naively unprepared.

 

[Paradox]

Think of this as an opportunity to try again

 

[Deleted member 47471]

Yes it is dead. You need to have a bonfire. There are "dead bonsai tree fire" threads on the site somewhere.

Don't feel too bad... I lost 41 trees last winter when we had record-breaking cold and I was naively unprepared.

Wow 41 so sorry my fren

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Wow 41 so sorry my fren

A lot were smaller trees... but still I was shocked after I counted them all.

 

[rollwithak]

Bummer. Unfortunately he may have just missed one day on a really hot California day and that was enough to dry the roots and kill it…. Vacation maybe?

Take it out of the pot, torch it, keep the pot, start anew!

In the famous words of Sorce, “Welcome to Crazy!”

 

[leatherback]

I lost 41 trees last winter when we had record-breaking cold and I was naively unprepared.

Thank you.
I lost some trees this year and was sad, not understanding why i lost some of them. First big loss in years,
Seeing this helps me accept

It is good for all if we also share our losses, i think.

 

[ChefB]

Wow 41 so sorry my fren

Don’t feel too bad for @Bonsai Nut. He still has 1041 healthy trees. From the looks of his backyard, he could kill 41 trees every year for the next 40 years and his wife would still think he was crazy!

 

[palafr01]

@forg0t Sorry about the lost tree. Even though it is dead you could always try to use it in a group planting of some kind. Just remove some of the bark or let it naturally weather. With some extra stones and junipers it could make for an interesting scene.

 

[Deleted member 47471]

Don’t feel too bad for @Bonsai Nut. He still has 1041 healthy trees. From the looks of his backyard, he could kill 41 trees every year for the next 40 years and his wife would still think he was crazy!

lol

 

[dbonsaiw]

There are "dead bonsai tree fire" threads on the site somewhere.

LOL - I have so much dead stuff I can do the burning man version of this bonfire.

For what it's worth, I've had zero luck with junipers and have no clue why.

 

[Deleted member 47471]

The only trees I have are Junipers. I had four then one died (RIP). The other three are thriving beautifully. Eventually, I’ll “branch off” from juniper and acquire something deciduous.