and i wasnt trying to shape it or anything? I was just trying to get the dead branches off
Which dead branches though?
Just like trees with leaves drop their leaves at some point in time, so do junipers. The brwn stuff you see are dead needles. Branches that are brown with no green at the end are dead. Dead branches do not cost the plant anything.
You would remove them, to allow light & aircirculation in the inside of the plant. But branches that have green tips are stil growing. Getting brown foliage on the oldest parts is normal aging.
Bonmsai requires one main characteristic: Patience. When you post questions here, give the post a couple of days to see what answers come in. 3 persons might say 3 different things. Also, advice without having seen the tree is tricky.
in your case, you have a very young plant which, if you are truely serious about bonsai, will on the long term not be a plant you are going to keep. Use this as a practice tree. Read up on bonsai and decide in a few months which direction you want to take.
