How long for Junipers to turn sickly color?

restlessdesign

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum. I received a juniper starting kit from BonsaiBoy.com exactly 12 days ago. I was watering it as the soil began to become dry for the first two days. I then had to go out of town and because my mom was not able to water it, when I got home the soil and roots felt bone dry. I quickly gave it a drink, and then in the following few days, we received heavy showers in my area (Cleveland, OH).

After the second day of heavy rain, I noticed that the bark had begun to peel! A few days later (probably around Thursday) I noticed that the leaves began to turn a sickly color and now it appears to be getting worse.

I've read that Junipers have a habit of staying green for a while even after they are dead, so I'm wondering exactly how long that process of dying actually takes? Does it sound like the drying out and subsequent overwatering could kill it within a week? Or should I talk to BonsaiBoy.com (are the known as a reputable dealer)? Or perhaps I didn't plant it deep enough? There were so many roots and I cut about 1/4th off before I repotted it, but I didn't want to force the tree or the roots to conform to the pot (maybe it was too small?)... =/

Here's some pictures of the tree in question:

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sauce

Hi restless one, You have several issues here and I am sure others will add to this. Let's start at the beginning. Bonsai Boy is notorious for overpriced trees but I have never heard of their material being inferior regards health. Junipers in my experience take weeks and months to show death depending on the severity of what is killing them. I am not sure that your tree is dead possibly just mistreated. When you bring a new tree into a new environment it needs time to adjust and get comfortable before any work is done on it. The worst thing you can do is what you have done. Trying to force a tree into a smaller pot so quickly will kill it. No offense meant as you did not know better. The best thing to do now is repot it in a larger pot without disturbing the roots. Be sure and plant "all" of the roots under a free draining soil. Not sure why you left those roots exposed but bury them next time. Once you repot it water the soil, keep it in semi-shade for a while and mist it frequently. Hopefully it will come back. Also, the tree, if it isn't now must be kept outdoors, it will die indoors. One other thing to do is scratch the bark with your fingernail, if you see green it is still alive if not it's probably dead.