Tree id and health question

WyldBill

Folks -

I have two trees on my property which I have been unable to ID. Here are two pics, one a closeup of a new bloom, and then a pic of the whole tree. As you can see from the whole tree shot, the bottoms of these trees are terribly brown, but the tops look ok. I did have some kind of vine which had grown up around these trees and which was quite entangled in them. I spent quite some time cutting these vines out of the trees, and suspect that this vine may have been the cause of the "dying" but am not sure. So, that being said, if anyone can 1) help me id this tree, or 2) give me any advice on the trees health, what might be causing the browning, what I can to do get them looking nice and green from the ground-up, etc. would be GREATLY appreciated.

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RMeigs

It's a juniper. Also known as a red cedar. I wouldn't worry about the brown appearance underneath. These are tough trees or shrubs. From the shape I'd guess you have a lot of deer, which will eat anything in the winter. If there is any new growth near the ground you might try protecting the bottom 4 feet or so starting in the fall.

Cakes

it might be a fungal infection. At first I was expecting to see just a dry tree that has browned, it's what the evergreens do if they get a lack of water but she looks too red and it's shaped wrong for drought.

it looks sort of like seiridium canker. which can be treated with anti-fungal things like a root drench of whole neem but the underlying conditions which permitted it should be addressed.

more about seiridium
seiridium image - Yahoo! Search Results

things that might have contributed:

she looks too close to the other tree, there is no air flow between them.

she is in a low spot where she is getting runoff from the road and the field to the right; she doesn't like wet soil.

last i might check around her base and see if the soil looks like it has been getting it's allotment of degrading forest litter because she might need a boost after serving such long duty next to that road.