They should be able to tolerate considerable cold......-30F. But other issues can contribute to the browning - overly damp winter soils/poor drainage and various juniper pathogens like tip blights (Kabatina and Phomopsis) and other fungal issues. Spider mites can also cause this but an unlikely candidate for damage occurring over winter.

Kind of looks like winterburn mostly on the interior of splayed branches.

In harsher winters, my upright junipers always show some degree of browning or even loss of an occasional limb, I just do a bit of pruning and shearing to tidy them up. Yours only have minor browning and are fine, though you might wish to shear to obtain denser growth of those now splaying branches. If ground conditions are dry, deep watering prior to freeze up will fully hydrated and lessen browning.

May be remove the mulch. The only plant I don't mulch or fertilize is my juniper. Its a slow grower but healthy. I think its roots need to dry out.

Yes, I think junipers like to dry out between waterings.

Could be some of that browning could be 'winter bronzing' and will recover in time. I'd let it go for a while before trimming any off until you can tell what's dead and what's not.

It seems like I get a little tip blight on my junipers occasionally. I just cut it off when I see it with a scissors.

And don't fertilize late in the growing season as that could cause the plant to not harden off properly before winter.

i got rid of ALL my upright blue junipers.. due to juniper tip blight.. and also snow and ice damage ... and yours look a bit splayed form what i presume was a hard MN winter ...

its all easy to fix when they are small.. but when they are going on 10 feet .. and are splayed to the ground.. removal is the only option ...

junipers are near invasive on the roadways and byways of MI .. they NEVER need any fert.. for any reason.. they are basically weed trees ...

i doubt mulch has anything to do with humidity and wet leaves.. dont overhead water.. never intentionally wet the leaves.. and remove other plants to increase air movement if possible ...

as they start to fail.. regardless of your efforts... just dont keep replacing them with the same bigbox option... move on to better plants ...

ken

ps: they are at least 5 to 8 feet too close to the fence.. and the fence is why you dont have the air movement you need ... research future potential.. when planting trees ... dont think that cute little babe is going to stay small and cute ...

" junipers are near invasive on the roadways and byways of MI .. they NEVER need any fert.. for any reason.. they are basically weed trees ... "

The only juniper that fits this description is Juniperus virginiana, commonly called eastern red cedar. Other juniper species, like the chinensis of the Blue Points or other cultivated forms, should not be included in this overly sweeping generalization!

If you figure a sprawling juniper like J. communis, they are pretty easy to find anywhere in the northern tier states. And for some reason, they're always healthy looking for a wild, native plant.

The nicest, most healthy-looking juniper (J. horizontalis) I've ever seen was at elevation in T. Roosevelt national park. Growing in almost solid rock and very dry conditions.

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