It's hard to tell from the symptom pictured what the cause is, but several factors may be responsible. Are the plants being monitored for watering needs and irrigated periodically during this ongoing drought? (Last year, much of the state was in drought for most of the growing season as well, which can compound plant stress.) Junipers are more resistant to drought than most shrubs, but nothing is immune to this degree of rainfall shortage without being stressed to some degree, whether symptoms manifest now or later. Since junipers don't wilt (though they can develop a paler color when too dry, though it's subtle), gardeners need to feel the soil a few inches down into the root zone to determine if watering is needed. (The linked page provides more guidance.)

Unfortunately, over-watering, if the plants are being irrigated often or heavily, can cause very similar symptoms, and there is not treatment for root rot that can result. Roots lost to dieback during prior periods of wet soil conditions can develop dieback during hot spells since that is when demands on their remaining roots is highest. Feeling the soil moisture before assuming watering is needed will help avoid over-watering, as will making sure no nearby roof downspout outlets are emptying too close to the juniper root zone.

This past spring, when the weather was wetter for a stretch of time, they might have contracted a twig blight. There are at least two "blight" fungi that can cause this type of branch dieback, though the only practical remedy once damage appears is to prune out browned branches. Fungicide cannot cure existing infection, and while its use might suppress new infections, now is not the time during which their use would be effective. (Plus fungicide use might threaten pollinators or other organisms if sprays drift onto nearby plants. They also aren't foolproof, and weather can interrupt a spray schedule and leave an opening for infection despite treatment.)

Another fungal opportunist, Botryosphaeria canker, can infect plants that were previously stressed by drought, high heat, or other environmental conditions. Here too, though, all that can be done once symptoms manifest is to prune out any dieback, and minimize drought stress going forward.

If the rest of the plants and their roots remain healthy, they will regrow lost branches in their own time and at their own pace. Fertilizing to spur growth is not recommended (and may cause worse root damage if they are already struggling from another issue), and it's not common for shrubs (especially evergreens) to develop new growth this late into the growing season, even if they are otherwise healthy. Shrubs and trees need lots of time to prepare buds for next spring and to harden-off this spring's new growth before winter, so it will tolerate freezing temperatures. By midsummer, most above-ground new growth is finished, which is normal. Therefore, after you prune out the dead areas, you probably won't see any new growth start to fill that back in until at least next spring.

Miri

Hello Tim,

Extension doesn't collect information on grass seed brand offerings or availability, nor do we recommend particular businesses or retailers, but UMD does trail grass cultivars along with Virginia Tech each year in order to determine which have the best performance and resilience for our challenging mid-Atlantic conditions.

Tall fescue is the predominant lawn type used in Maryland, which can grow both cool-season turf (fescue, ryegrass, bluegrass) and warm-season turf (zoysia, primarily). You can find a link to the published list of recommended cultivars in our Grass Seed page (and on a few other lawn care and maintenance pages). To be fair, it can be difficult to find a seed blend that includes more than one of the recommended cultivars, but even finding one can be beneficial since it helps the lawn to be more vigorous and resistant to typical stressors like drought, high heat, and disease. Generally, only cool-season turfgrasses are available as seed; warm-season turf is usually planted differently, using plugs (small started plants) or sprigs (unrooted cuttings), and more rarely, seed or sod. Now is the best time of year for seeding cool-season grasses, and warm-season grasses are instead planted around late spring.

Lawns do not thrive in shade, even though some turfgrass types (tall fescue and fine fescue) have the best tolerance for it among the turfgrass types grown in Maryland. Trees that cast shade and whose roots compete with lawns will eventually win that battle, and even areas with building shadow shade can see the turf thin-out and decline over time. In shaded areas that receive less than about 6 hours of direct summer sun, we recommend that lawn alternatives be used, which can include planting various groundcovers instead.

Miri