not w/o a picture ... see link

probably 'juniper tip blight' gone crazy ... google that ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I had a Helmond's pillar barberry and it was very ugly. After giving it a umber of years to shape up, I took it out. And do you really want a barberry near the front door--all those prickers!

good catch lacey ...

let me be very clear .... DO YOU REALLY WANT A MULTI-YEAR RENOVATION PROJECT BY THE FRONT DOOR ...

between what can be done.. and what should be done.. is usually a vast conundrum ...

frankly.. your contractor.. did not pick the best stock for the front door.. IMHO ...

this is the prime focus point of your house.. not a place to be messing around with 'trying' to make a plant look better.. which in the world of conifers.. can take 3 to 5 years.. in all reality ...

good luck

ken

Are they under the eves? Maybe they dried out. Without a picture, it's just a guess.....and a wild one at that.

I agree on the poor choice. Any plant you have to 'tie up' all winter to keep it from splaying can't be good as far as looks go, especially flanking the front door in a formal setting.
I had a few for awhile, and the work trimming them to keep them tidy wasn't worth the effort.
Mike

Here come the pictures. Let me make some comments first.

Ken, I checked out pictures of Juniper Tip Blight. There are spores and black spots in the pictures that are not on my plant - I spent some time looking through it and I don't see anything at all on the woody areas where the needles fell off. There are no galls either, that would signify an cedar apple rust disease.

lacyvail, our front door area is very large - see picture for set up. If anyone gets pricked by the barberry, they would deserve it. I don't want anyone walking around the mulch in the area where the Junipers are now. There are also some mums in front of the Junipers, so I don't want anyone walking in that area period. The contractor that put in the plants also did the the brick walk that goes up to the front door and his workers did a greab job.

botann, the Junipers are not under the eves. Not very far from them are some Japanese Iris that need moisture and they are healthy and ready to bloom again this year. We mulch every year. If we don't get rain in the heat of summer - late July and August here in Western PA it can get very dry. Some summers are very dry and some aren't. I water when I have to because we have lots of differnt plants in the landscaping-perennials as well as shrubs. So everyone gets a drink then. And everything else is florishing - getting even larger than I anticipated!

I really like the look of the Junipers flanking the walkway to the front door, but I don't want to replant with the same thing after having this problem.

I worked with the contractor on selecting plants for this area. He made suggestions, I made suggestions. I did research on the plants and then made the final choices.
I don't think they were a bad choice. I think something happened to them and I'd like to try to find out exactly what. My DH thinks that this is a moot point since we are going to replace them anyway. I like to know what happened to a plant if I lose it.

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I don't know the definitive answer, but I wonder if they got too much salt from the walk or if the high pH of the soil would do this?

Dzitmoidonc, we don't use salt. For what we paid for getting the brick walk put it, we don't want to take a chance on hurting it, or the plantings around it, or our dog, who walks on it once in a while. We use the salt substitute that they sell that's "safe" for walks, cement,plants and pets.

For the ph to be that off, don't you think that I'd have problems with other plants?

Linda

when you replied.. by adding pix.. your post automatically went back to the top.. so you didnt need a new post to tell us ...

there is NOTHING YOU CAN DO.. be done with them..

who cares what the issue was

do NOT replace with junipers..

they are conifers.. there is a conifer forum.. and you might get many ideas.. or not.. who knows.. about what you can replace them with ...

ok i read your note closely ... what happened to them.. they were born as junipers.. you bought overly mature plants for instant gratification.. they did not take the transplant well being large transplant.. and they are host to a number of endemic problems.. what more can i say ...

i will yell.. DO NOT USE JUNIPERS ... this is why got rid of near a dozen from my conifer collection .. and i did not bother to find out why ...

see you in the conifer forum???

ken

ps: based on the shadows.. and the azalea.. the bottom of the plants might be in too much shade ...

Linlily, conifers, as a rule, need somewhat acidic soil. I thought if you put in the walk in recently, the mortar bleeds a lot of lime into the soil.
I know what you mean about wanting to know why. Postmortems are always done on my casualties. Sometimes you get an answer, sometimes not.

"i" care what the issue is, ken...i'm a gardener and I take pride in NOT losing plants

gardening is a learning experience...if you can't learn from your mistakes or misfortunes then how can you improve as a gardener?

YOU asked for pictures

I am not planning on replacing them with junipers-never was

MY CONTRACTOR put "overly mature" plants in... as you put it...use a contactor and THEY like to put in LARGE plants
they can charge more for them

the shadows are from the sun not hitting that area of the house yet - picture taken in the morning...they get afternoon sun

no azaleas in my landscaping...spirea in front of the rocket juniper and blooming shrub is a variegated weigela

no need to YELL, ken. I thought gardenweb was where gardeners went to discuss plants...to get help and help other gardeners...not a place to get yelled at.

Linlilly,
I would say that the new walk changed the Ph to the point that the junipers are not happy now.
They are not dead at all, and there is alot of green even at the bottom of the shrubs.
All that cement and new bricks are doing it.
You truly would be surprised how the ph of the soil changed for shrubs that are sensitive to requiring an acidic PH.
The PH wouldn't affect the other shrubs you listed either, they are not sensitive, but a conifer, very sensitive.
If you decide to replace them, try to buy a shrub or plants that aren't as sensitive to PH issues.
Just to satisfiy yourself, buy a PH meter at any store, they are cheap, and test the soil PH.
Conifers really like it acidic.
Then you will definately understand what happened.
Beautiful landscaping by the way, your spirea is gorgeous!

So the native red cedars, which are really junipers, should all be dead because they can't handle the soil pH? Somebody should probably tell them because they obviously don't know that.

Juniper virginiana can be used as an indicator plant for high pH soils. Around here, it means you have lime. White pine means you don't.

Is the house facing west? Is there anything notable between you and the Rocky Mountains? It almost looks like winter wind burn of some sort, and if that's the case the hollies are totally out. Alot of weird things happened this winter/spring, and there have been reports of people losing weird plants - things that are usually considered bullet proof.

Mad, Junipers are different from most conifers in that they can tolerate a much wider pH and still look good. J. virginiana, the one you call "Red Cedar", in fact tolerates almost any pH from 5 to 8+ and thrives. I'm sure you can find it just about anywhere from bottom land near the streams to highland acid soil.

The tree in question, Juniperus scopulorum, has a narrower range, and after doing some looking around, I am surprised to find that it loves a pH near 8!
You learn something new every day.

Some years ago I purchased a J. virginiana cultivar called 'Taylor'. As far as I can tell, the only nursery that sells it is Sooner Plant Farm in Oklahoma. It was touted as getting some 20 feet tall and never wider than 3 feet. So far, so good--some 7 feet tall. I like it very much, and none of the problems I had with Skyrocket.

I agree with Ken -- Might be Juniper tip blight or some other type of disease. Too much damage for poor soil, or not enough acid in soil. Although those conditions may have lead to the overall decline.
I agree that two large tall plants should not flank the front door like two guards. It does not welcome you to the front door. The front should have smaller m ore unique plants. As a landscape designer I never plant tall flanking plants on either side of the door.
I believe Ken advise was solid, maybe his caps key was stuck.

Remove and select a smaller plant that enjoys the conditions of your font yard ( sun and soil)

Good luck Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Design Ideas

Ken, SHE CARES ABOUT THE CAUSE. You are so presumptuous so often. Must get you in trouble with peeps or chickens, or aliens. Lol.

Linlilly, found an article that may help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Juniper Diseases

You often see this kind of result with Rocky Mountain juniper in my area also. Since 'Skyrocket' is an example of this dry climate species you will probably have to try something else in that spot. I would also change the entire layout so that it is either all informal or all formal (you do seem to have a geometrically symmetric facade, as far as can be seen in the picture provided, so that formal planting is actually compatible with the architecture - and informal planting is not so much). The way it is now you have two, conflicting styles of planting right in the same small area. I call matching pairs by the front door amidst an informal planting (or in front of an asymmetric house facade) Tuxedoes at a Picnic.