My little brown shimpaku... ?

[DonovanC]

This shimpaku was doing really well, I repotted in early April and it seemed to be recovering nicely and had plenty of new growth. But then, I’m looking at it today and it seems that all of the sudden it’s taken a turn for the worst.
I’m extra sad because I finally decided on a style for it - I’m training it as Bunjin. But now I fear it is Bun-dead ?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Might be getting too much water. Get all that stuff off the top and let it breathe. Don’t fool with the wiring or branches...just let it be. If you repotted in April, when did you wire it?

 

[DonovanC]

Might be getting too much water. Get all that stuff off the top and let it breathe. Don’t fool with the wiring or branches...just let it be. If you repotted in April, when did you wire it?

That’s what I was thinking and I was debating on removing the moss. So I’ll definitely do that. Have you had experience reviving one in this shape? Is there hope?! ?
The wiring was done at the same time that I repotted it.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

That’s what I was thinking and I was debating on removing the moss. So I’ll definitely do that. Have you had experience reviving one in this shape? Is there hope?! ?
The wiring was done at the same time that I repotted it.

If it is green, there is hope, but not much margin for error right now. Don’t mess with it, don’t move it around, don’t keep it too wet...and it has a chance. Hopefully you have other trees to love on for a few months.

 

[DonovanC]

If it is green, there is hope, but not much margin for error right now. Don’t mess with it, don’t move it around, don’t keep it too wet...and it has a chance. Hopefully you have other trees to love on for a few months.

Fingers crossed, I took the moss of and the soil was pretty wet - we’ve had a lot of rain lately so I imagine that hasn’t helped the poor drowning dear.
The good news is I have plenty of other trees to love in the meantime.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Some things to consider for next time:

You may have overpotted the tree. Potting a smaller root ball into a large pot with lots of extra soil means that soil will stay too wet too long. No tree likes this, but junipers despise this.

April seems a little early to repot a juniper for peak success. I repot my junipers in May here in upstate NY. Reinterpret that for your climate.

There is a certain period of time in the spring where the bark and cambium of junipers is really “loose” because it is pumping a lot more water. Wiring during this time can easily kill branches if you’re not careful.

One or more of these three factors are what is probably contributing to the declining health of your tree. Something to keep in mind for your next juniper repot. Hope it recovers!

 

[DonovanC]

Some things to consider for next time:

You may have overpotted the tree. Potting a smaller root ball into a large pot with lots of extra soil means that soil will stay too wet too long. No tree likes this, but junipers despise this.

April seems a little early to repot a juniper for peak success. I repot my junipers in May here in upstate NY. Reinterpret that for your climate.

There is a certain period of time in the spring where the bark and cambium of junipers is really “loose” because it is pumping a lot more water. Wiring during this time can easily kill branches if you’re not careful.

One or more of these three factors are what is probably contributing to the declining health of your tree. Something to keep in mind for your next juniper repot. Hope it recovers!

Thanks for the advice! I’m definitely thinking it’s a water issue because it was doing well up until now - I assume that what you were saying about over-potting is probably a contributing factor. The root ball is fairly small compared to the pot. Thankfully all of my other junipers are doing well - I have several chinensis, procumbens, conferta and a few virginiana, but this is my only shimpaku. It definitely seems to be a little a little more particular than the others.

Also, I have heard that one should wait until May to repot junipers, so I’ll be sure to do remember this for next year.

Thanks again

 

[Potawatomi13]

Also wonder if too much foliage removed?

 

[DonovanC]

Also wonder if too much foliage removed?

Perhaps, but wouldn’t that have had a much quicker effect? After the repotting and pruning it did really well for a while and had a lot of new growth. But I suppose that if it had more foliage it would be able to handle the extra water - so maybe not enough foliage to utilize the amount of water that was in the pot?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Perhaps, but wouldn’t that have had a much quicker effect? After the repotting and pruning it did really well for a while and had a lot of new growth. But I suppose that if it had more foliage it would be able to handle the extra water - so maybe not enough foliage to utilize the amount of water that was in the pot?

6 weeks from all the pruning, wiring, and repotting is a quick response for an evergreen.

 

[bwaynef]

I'd look into the symptoms of juniper tip blight.

 

[flor1]

If it were mine I would get rid of the moss and rock on top.
I would remove the wire from tree till at the earliest next spring.
Get yourself a wooden chopstick put in soil check for moisture if any let it go for at least another day.

 

[DonovanC]

If it were mine I would get rid of the moss and rock on top.
I would remove the wire from tree till at the earliest next spring.
Get yourself a wooden chopstick put in soil check for moisture if any let it go for at least another day.

The moss has been removed, I haven’t removed the wire though out of fear of stressing the tree further. I do believe the amount of rain that we’ve had may have contributed. I’ve considered moving it to a covered area to let it dry out a bit as I’ve been checking the soil and it’s stayed quite wet.
But I’m worried that the shade that would come with protecting it from the rain wouldn’t be great for the tree... so I suppose I’ll leave it where it is?