my bonsai gardening skills = a wiltering plant...S.O.S

[bonsaifailure]

Helpful Gardener....
The only reason I wanted to start a new thread is because I wanted some direct information/solutions specific to my situation. I've read through alot of the information on this site, which has been helpful to know but I need some direction...ANYWAYS I have a juniper, not sure what type...heres a photo, please make what you can of it, and it's situation................
[img]https://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c76/tacotimes/IMG_0254.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c76/tacotimes/IMG_0251.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c76/tacotimes/IMG_0249.jpg[/img]

I was told by a bonsai master in my hometown of seattle that this was an outdoor tree...I relocated and now live in colorado springs-65 mi south of denver....where it can reach 73 degrees like it was two days ago and have a wind chill of only 6 degrees, be below freezing, and snow 7 inches the next day, which was yesterday.,...so to say the least the climate is jumpy and inconsistent. I keep it watered often, so the soil doesnt dry out...ive re-soiled it....and its hella sunny during the day, but then at night it freezes..... and the soil in the pot freezes solid........the needles have over the past couple of weeks been slowly but surely going from a healthy soft green to a brittle yellowish orange that breaks off at the touch of any of the branches....even some of the paler green needles are brittle and break with a touch.....I tried bring it into my room where the window stays open,theres a humidifier running and definately plenty of sunlight, which I think is more ideal for the trees living conditions but iguess IT HAS TO BE OUTSIDE, ITS AN OUTSIDE PLANT! whatever. I'm just trying to bring it back to 1000% health, cus I'm sick of all my bonsais I get DYING ON ME...its gettin old..................................help please. [/b]

[Gnome]

bonsaifailure,

Don't be so hard on yourself, you are now in a different climate and will have to learn some things anew. I am in a very different climate than you so I don't know how much specific help I can offer so I'll just throw out a few thoughts. I always protect recently re-potted trees from freezing. Your tree is potted rather high in the pot thus exposing a lot of the root system to extreme temperature swings.

You're right of course that Junipers belong outside but can you try to find a more sheltered location for it for now, perhaps a porch or breezeway. I might also consider applying some temporary top dressing to protect the exposed roots, something like long fibered sphagnum moss.

Sorry I can't offer any magic bullet to save your tree, does anyone else have any suggestions? alisios this is much closer to you than me.

Norm

[alisios]

Heya - great pictures!

Was your tree always planted that high in the dirt? What were the roots like beneath that? When did you re-soil it? Cut any roots?

My guess is that it's getting too cold for it when the soil freezes, even though Junipers are hardy - here where I live it gets high 60s but it doesn't droop below 32 -

That pot looks like it can hold a lot of moisture in the bottom - does it?

There's hope for this tree - when I got my juniper, it looked like this - after reading a lot about them, I held back on the watering - I even found it to be dusty dry a few times and freaked out - but I gave it water, and it survived...

I also removed all the brown leaves by pinching them off - that way I knew if it was getting worse - I could also see the tree better...

I don't have any magic bullet either - have you done the scratch test to see if there is any green underneath?

[bonsaifailure]

okay....ive been keeping it in the porch area by the front door....I just repotted it BECAUSE when the soil froze and froze again, the original ceramic pot broke........so I said heck*, lets get a new pot and see if new soil will jive this turkey......I have rocks in the bottom of the pot so hopefully it drains well.....it hasnt always been potted that high up out the dirt......I was going for that cool arty japanese look yeah... ! anyways....ive been keeping it the garage at night so its not so harsh as far as the temperature..........ummmmm didnt cut any of the roots... um theres no moss in this region really....................not humid, moist enough in the air.....if you see the grass in the background of my pics, not even that survives!

I'll pinch off the dead branches to keep tabs on the situations....good idea?
welllllllllllllllllllll, ill layer more dirt over the roots........and are you sayin I should let the dirt dry out some?

thanks for your responses yall.....................

let me know whats good