Hello all,
I received a japanese juniper as a gift and upon doing some research I've heard very conflicting things. First off: some places say that they are fine indoors, while others say they aren't. I live in British Columbia where it rains A LOT and I'm a little worried about over watering from the rain if junipers are solely outdoor bonsai. I've also seen that they cannot be exposed to frost which we've had quite a bit of. So far my juniper has been indoors.
I've noticed a little bit of potential browning at the tips of the buds, would this be a result of being indoors?


And the branches arrived almost brown closer to the trunk, is this normal or is it also a symptom of my juniper potentially dying?


Sorry about all the questions but hopefully someone can help.

Thank you!

It is pretty simple: if you want your juniper to live, it needs to be outside. if it has been inside, and only inside, and you have really cold temperatures like below freezing, it might be a good idea to find someplace unheated that stays above freezing but gets a lot of light. when I was young, I had three junipers like yours, and insisted on keeping them inside... not one of them lasted longer than a month. Junipers, as has often been said here on the forum, when kept outside can endure up to -10 or lower.

the tips browing is not a good sign.. needles on the inside browing and falling of is normal, that's how the tree grows. It looks like you have some fresh growth, which is a good sign, but also a bad sign, junipers as with most trees go dormant in the winter.
try and see if you can take the rocks off the soil, if you can and you see normal potting soil. they probably will interfere with watering.


www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/juniper

Thank you so much for the reply.
If I were to move the juniper outside today, the change in temperature won't cause a shock or anything, right? It doesn't usually reach below -10 so it won't be too cold.

My main concern was the amount of rain we receive and root rot (the main reason I've had it indoors so far). But is that not something to be worried about when they're outdoors or should I just move the bonsai during the rain spells to the covered porch?

I've already checked the soil and it looks to be the recommended bonsai mix.

Thanks again!

Mine stay outside yearround in full weather. Assuming the right substrate this is not a problem. If you have substrate based on potting soil you need to make sure they do not constantly get water.

Do NOT put a juniper from a warm room into the frost. Plants need time to adjust to the cold. So only if you do not get any frost for the next few weeks or so can you put it outside now.

The frost is very inconsistent right now here, in this case should I try the unheated garage with lots of lighting?

Thanks