Shimpaku Juniper - looks bad, is it?

kompik

This is my first spring with junipers, so I'll feel pretty silly if this is how junipers are supposed to look in the spring, but it just seems pretty fishy to me.

First, a little history: I bought this shimpaku juniper from a local nursery last fall and have kept it in it's original nursery pot since then since it wasn't potbound and seemed healthy. I overwintered it outside with my other trees in a cold frame. This spring we (locally) had an early surge of warm weather with temperatures in the 70s for about two weeks in March, followed by a return to freezing overnight lows for two weeks afterwards. I had removed the cold frame when the weather was nice, and put it back when it was turning colder. All of my trees except for a temple cedar (which I repotted too early and probably root pruned to severely) survived just fine and look perfectly healthy.

Early this spring I noticed my juniper developing these light sea-green nodules on the tips of some of it's foliage and I just assumed it was budding out new foliage, but now, over a month later, these nodules are still there and aren't producing new foliage, so I'm getting concerned. I've also noticed that sub-branchlets adjacent to the branchlets ending in these nodules are turning yellow.

Anyone have any idea what these things are and what I should do about them?

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Ronny

i think that is normal. some junipers get little balls on them like that as the flower type thing, so i think that is normal, but hey i could be wrong, i'm not really sure about the yellowing of the sub branchlets. but a juniper is a strong little plant, and can withstand some weather elments.

kompik

Just got confirmation that those are indeed little flowers. Some will turn into cones and others will just fall off. The yellow shoots may just be tender young shoots that are perfectly healthy. Like I said, this is my first year with a juniper, so I'm not sure what to expect. =)

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bonsaial1

Their juniper berries and what gin is made from. They are a natural part of the growing sequence in spring. If they bother you just pluck them off. They will do no harm if taken off.

The yellowing tips cound be many problems, fungus, mites, poor rootage, recent repot that is going south, poor drainage, or wind damage. Take your pick, without a better diagnosis it is very hard to pinpoint the exact cause.

Best, Al

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JayC

Hi kompik,

Yes these berries are natural as described above. I only have one shimpaku that hasnt fruited yet (recently recieved) but i think another possibility for the yellowing could be added to the list above. It is possible that the berries are using a large amount of sap and are restricting sap flow to the yellowing branchletts. This is just a theory and has absolutely no evidence to suport it but i just thought it was worth mentioning.....

JayC

rockm

Gotta love this. Yes. Those are juniper berries. Nothing to be worried about. They're probably an indication your tree is being well cared for. The yellowing foliage is also normal, as inner growth tends to die back as outer extension growth ramps up in the spring.

Vance Wood

Not meaning to be argumentative but in the interest of accuracy here is what I learned from Kimura: The appearance of berries, though natural, usually means that the tree has been stressed. This was probably due to the weather as you described. Our weather in Michigan did the same thing. Some of my Shimps are doing the same thing. Yes I know this is natural but this is also what Kimura said about them. Do I think the tree is in trouble? Absolutely not, it looks great, it is just responding to an environmental upset.

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rockm

I stand corrected. Might be something going on with this tree--although from the look of it, I don't think so.

I thought that the alarm was kind of interesting.

kompik

Thanks for all the good info!Like I said, I'm kinda new at this. I wasn't *horrified* to see these things, I was just curious and mildly concerned, so I figured I should post and find out what people could tell me about them. That's how we learn. ;-)

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