What's eating my blue arrow juniper?

Blue Arrow Juniper shares the same pest profile as other Juniperus scopulorum cultivars. Bagworms are the most damaging threat, capable of killing branches on the tightly columnar form before they are noticed. Juniper scale, spider mites, and cedar-apple rust are secondary concerns. Deer occasionally rub trunks in fall.

Camouflaged silk-and-foliage bags hanging from branches; interior needles stripped, causing permanent brown dead zones in the column. Hand-pick overwinter bags. In late spring, spray Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki) or spinosad on young larvae as soon as bags appear.

White encrusted scale on stems; foliage yellows, tips die, and the blue foliage color dulls. Apply dormant horticultural oil in late winter; insecticidal soap spray targeting crawlers in early summer.

Stippled, dull or bronze needles, fine webbing in dry hot weather; the blue foliage color is first to suffer. Increase irrigation during drought; apply neem oil or insecticidal soap every 5–7 days for three cycles.

Orange gelatinous telial horns erupt on stems in wet spring weather; can distort and kill small branches over repeated years. Remove rust galls before spore release. Apply propiconazole fungicide at bud swell in spring if disease pressure is consistent.