MARCH 2024
The sun is stronger now than it has been for months. It is triggering your tree to grow and it's hotter than what your tree has been used to for a while.
Add to this that the air in your home is probably about as dry as it has ever been. You've been running the central heating for from 3-5 months. Do sparks fly when you touch your cat?
Regardless how your tree has fared though the winter until now, check it and be prepared to change your watering and/or take some steps to up the local humidity. Over the winter your tree hasn't done much of anything. The air has been cooler. The sun has been insipid. That has changed and the immediate result is that your tree needs more water now than it did in December or January.
I can only share that over the years, I have had more complaints from customers about junipers that have dried out and died at this time of year than any other. So, check your trees. Check the soil. Look carefully at the foliage for any small webs or pinpoint sized insects ( spider mites) that thrive in the dry winter air. Give them a spray. Pull them back a bit if they're sitting right on the ledge of a southern or western window. If your soil seems to be dry, I recommend a really good soaking- so sit it in water, almost up to the rim of the pot and leave it for an hour. You don't need to do that every time.
Try not to swing too much in the other direction. Only water once your tree seems dry. Just know that it will dry out faster now.
While junipers are the most popular tree- by a mile, they are actually not the easiest tree to grow and there is only one reason for that. They don't give you a lot of feedback on your care of them. They look fine- right up to the moment you realize they are dead. And this is the time of year that it seems to happen the most.
I didn't make them that way!