Thank you, I was wondering about the coloration being an indicator.
Depends on the species and the conditions. I have a Squamata that never turns purple - and one that does. Top of the foliage only, the bottom stays green. In this case, that's not a good sign. I have a Virgiana that was yellow/brownish when I bought it, but it turned beautifully green in the growing season.
My litmus test for picking out baby junipers is much like picking out cats. I gently pet them, and if they scratch me I put them back.
That too depends on the species. A communis will scratch - a rigida even more if I'm right. Most needle junipers will, Junipers wit scale type foliage won't.
Which parts? I'd hardly like to be passing around misinformation that's only been confirmed by my own biases rather
I don't think there's something you wrote that isn't right, just things we can have different opinions about. I have bare rooted my juniper.
When repotting, I do remove more than 1/2 - I actually only keep a small part of the old soil (less than 1/3). If it is in bad soil, I'd probably replace even more.
About the soil: we can't see what it is in. First I'd remove that decorative moss and the stones.