I received a Green Mound Juniper Bonsai from my mother in early July. Almost immediately, the needles began to turn brown. I have followed the instructions that I received with the tree and have kept it on a patio that receives full sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon.

My mother passed away very suddenly twelve days ago and it's very important to keep this last gift from her alive.

I would be very grateful for any advice anyone might have to help me save my tree. I have attached photos to show you what it looked like when it was delivered on July 7th and the condition it is in now. I should mention that I live in Maryland and it has been very hot and rainy over the past month.

Thank you!

Welcome to the forum, and sorry for your loss.

Junipers can turn brown for many reasons, and the sad news is they usually don't show the browning until it's too late to do anything; think Xmas trees, keeping green during November, December, and then turning suddenly brown and dying; in fact they were already dead in December, but just not showing it.
On a brighter note, keep it outside at all times, water it when the soil feels dry (they don't like wet feet), give it a little fertilizer, and let's hope for the best.
The soil it is planted in looks very organic and wet, they usually like fast inorganic draining soil best.
Good luck!

If the browning happened immediately after you received the tree, I would guess it is the result of the sun. It probably was kep in a fairly dark sheltered psition before it camee to you. Putting it in full sun directly may then lead to scorching. As it has been outside now for the past month, it should be used to it.

Do you see any branches that are growing? Healthy growth on a number of branches is a goood sign that the tree is recovering.

I’m really sorry for your loss.
About your tree.. LB and Clicio gave you good advices, maybe I can give you a little hope.

Here my rootbounded, fungus infected, dying juniper which I managed to nursing back to budding. I listened LB’s advices about keep the soil on the dryer side, misting regularly the needles and branches, keep on half shade and progressively introduce to full sun, as I see progression on it’s health.

Thank you all so much for the advice, and for giving me hope. Thank you, Clicio--I will use the inorganic soil and see if that helps. I suspect I may have been giving it too much water, so I will also try keep from giving it "wet feet"!

LB--yes, I believe there is some new growth with very tiny green needles.

And Felidae, thank you for sharing those inspiring photos. I'm very hopeful after seeing your tree.

Thank you all again, I am deeply grateful for your advice and kindness and will report back on the progress.