this is what the plant i bought labeled as gold cone looked like .. it splayed horribly years ago.. in an ice storm .. ken

That is some bad damage but it probably looks worse than it will in a couple of weeks, juniper tends to 'winter bronze' so that adds to the actual browning.

Looooong harsh winter this year. We had little snow early giving the ground a chance to freeze. Then not warming up early and lots of wind. But it's not just you, we're hearing reports of plant damage over a large portion of the upper mid west, north east and mid Atlantic regions.

Even with a surround for wind protection on my Eastern Hemlock, I had branch and needle damage, mostly toward the top of the tree and my Arborvitae's by the house showed noticeable winter burn. I could see my neighbors Dwarf Alberta Spruce is toast I think as it is all brown.

It's still early here so won't know the total extent of the damage until it warms enough to start things growing around here.

I don't think it was as cold as the 2013-'14 winter, but might've been longer and definitely more snow in April. Deer browse was actually worse this year than 2013, with even pines being eaten. There were some very hungry critters by the middle of April.

Growth shown looks dead to me - including deep inside the plants. Is any of it still supple, or is it all dried out and crispy?

only had slight burn on south facing side of mine

ron

btw ... edwin may have told me the proper name for my plant was Juniperus communis 'Suecica Aurea'

if it wasnt him ..... someone did ... lol

mine has never been sheared.. and to my eye.. looks nothing like yours ...

ken

Yes, sure was a tough winter, I have a 7 ft 'Medora' that is entirely crunchy dead right to the center of the plant, I'll be very surprised if it resprouts new growth.

If it's any consolation, my Juniperus communis (species) has several dead branch tips. who'd of thunk? :-(

It was purchased as J. c. ‘Gold Cone’, but maybe it was mislabeled. I’ve heard that can happen. An admittedly quick search of Google images shows some variety in the form, but that Italian Cypress-like habit of yours is especially nice.

If they’re not dead, they should definitely be given their last rites. One of the three has some green left on the north-facing side, but the other two are brown and crunchy through and through. Oh well, looks like I’ve got a garden project on my hands.

Pretty much all of my 'Danica' and its yellow version 'Mirjam' are dead on the south facing half of the specimens, also lots of perennials had winter killed ... a tough, tough winter and early spring!

That's what Gold Cone seems to do around here. Will be okay for a few years and then the right conditions come along and take it out. I don't see it sold much in stores around here anymore and the MN Dept of Ag lists it as Zone 5. I tried a couple of what were sold as Pencil Point (same type of foliage, but not gold) and they all toasted too this year

Pennlake, I was at a nursery in Red Wing this week and ran across the ‘Pencil Point’ you mention. Grown by Bailey’s, the tag is revealing. J. communis is commonly listed as Z2, but the tag would indicate actual experience doesn’t jibe.

A few of my Juniperus communis and Pinus thunbergii have bad winter burn this year from the extended cold temperatures. I had to remove my second ‘Compressa’ because of the bad burn. The ones I have that show no signs of browning are ‘Lemon Spire’, ‘Horstmann’, ‘Green Carpet’ and ‘Berkshire’. I know that these were rooted rather than grafted, so perhaps that may contribute to their success. I don’t know. Yes, it appears that the longer duration of the cold temperature did more damage than the shorter duration of greatly colder temperatures in 2013-2014 winter.

"Yes, it appears that the longer duration of the cold temperature did more damage than the shorter duration of greatly colder temperatures in 2013-2014 winter"

Agree, there can be only so much moisture loss over time before permanent effects are evident. I looked again at my arborvitaes again. Now I see it's the one on the Northwest corner of the house with S/SW sun exposure that shows high percentage of damage on the South and Southwest sides. The one on the Northeast corner of the house that had more shade during the day and afternoon shows a much lower percentage of damage. So winter sun was a major player in the drying effects imo.