HELENA — Chinese Junipers throughout Helena, particularly in the South Hills, are slowly turning brown and dying off.
“The drought situation, the changing climate, and some of those plants are just not going to be adaptable to the new environment, the environmental growing conditions in Montana,” says Mike Hiel, Owner of Gardenwerks.
Hiel says that there are a few factors that have led to these Junipers’ demise including recent drought conditions and age. But Hiel says the real devastating factor for these Junipers was the severe cold.
“Well, from my observation, it started about two years ago. Two years ago in the Fall, Fall of ‘22, we had a really early cold snap. And a lot of those plants didn’t shut down, in other words, stop growing before this cold snap hit. And then, of course, last winter when we got 48 below 0, that just completely wiped most of them out,” says Hiel.
Residents of the South Hills I spoke with did not want to go on camera but shared that they’ve noticed the change.
If you have a healthy juniper, you can help it by tapering off watering starting this time of year. That will slow its growth as we enter into fall and winter.
And if you suspect a big early freeze, it can be helpful to then give one last big watering so there’s moisture around the roots.
“If you’ve noticed there’s a lot of other junipers that are living and survived and those are the bluer-green and they seem to be a little bit hardier,” says Hiel.
Hiel says that if your Juniper is dying it might be time to count your losses and start again by planting a heartier plant. A dead or dying Juniper can also pose a fire risk to your property.
“No way to bring them back. The easiest way is to cut them down and yank them out of there. They are extreme fire hazard. So, any spark, cigarettes, ashes, matches, they’re going to go up just like poof,” says Hiel.
And Hiel recommends native plants if you’re looking for something new.
“Well, of course, native plants are probably always your best choice. They’ve been around for a long time and they’re growing, you know, just fine. We do have some native junipers that are growing in the hills.” says Hiel.
