Hi, I don't have a lot of good advice for you (never had the guts to do such a heavy trunk chop! :) ) except that you might get more attention and answers if you post to the RMBS Facebook group. There tends to be more activity over there than on these forums. https://www.facebook.com/groups/187924570086638

I'm still trying to figure that out, but most of my trees are good with full sun, so my rule is that on hot days I'll put the smaller trees that are in smaller pots somewhere where they get midday shade. Like with winter, I think it's about protecting the roots more than anything, so if the pots are likely to really heat up, I give them a break. But they all get a lot of sun.

I do keep mine outside all the time except during the winter. I still leave them out as much as I can, but when temperatures get close to freezing I make sure they're sheltered and insulated (I've kept mine in coolers with the tops off). When temperatures get close to freezing outside, I move the coolers to my unheated garage. And if it gets down to single-digits when my garage might hit freezing, I bring them inside. I have some bigger trees in development pots right now, and the advice I've gotten on those is to "plant" the pots in the ground, cover the base with mulch, and let them winter like they were regular planted trees. The ground insulates the roots completely. Again, I'm sure there are folks in the club who have a lot more experience with surviving winter then me. I don't know that a lot of members watch this forum anymore (I learned that when I made my first post). There's more activity over on the Facebook group. If you have more questions, you might want to join up and post over there. Good luck!

Welcome! There are others here who have way more experience than I do, but having killed my share of junipers, I have a bad feeling about your tree here. They can sit in this state for a long time without getting a lot worse, but they won't get better. It doesn't hurt to keep them in the sun and keep watering to see if something starts to bud somewhere. But I would say your tree may have entered what we like to politely call "permanent dormancy." This is just based off what I can kind of see in the photo, but when you try again with junipers--and please don't give up!--I would go with more of a gravelly substrate than water-retentive potting soil. There's a good chance you just drowned those roots and you need something with more drainage and room for oxygen to get to the roots. There are evergreen bonsai mixes available that, in my experience, can basically never be overwatered because they drain so well. Give that a try! I hope you won't be discouraged by the fate of one tree.

Thank you, Mike! Between my post and yours I purchased some soil components (pine bark fines and calcined clay) and transplanted my guys into nursery containers. I'm afraid I might have committed the "swimming" error, as the pots are pretty big, but I put some extra effort into opening up the root balls a bit, clearing out a lot of the old soil, and spreading the roots out. You're right that in the tall container the moisture wicks downward quickly! I do get out to water them about 3 times a day, so hopefully that will do the trick. They seem happy at the moment. Thanks for the advice!