Alright so I only have figured out how to post photos in reply so here goes, I hope this helps more. The OP photo is taken today, I open that window to let the sun shine on it on sunny afternoons but it's only a south facing window and it's somewhat filtered because it's going through a screen, so I try to gently take it out to get direct sun occasionally on mild mornings or early evenings. This photo below is what it looked like the day it arrived at my house, as you can see it had some brown needles from day 1, but I didn't consider that a problem, I didn't consider they would have sent me a plant that was already sick.

Great advice here! Thank you to the experts! I have the browning needles problem with a green mound juniper I received for Christmas. It's from bonzaioutlet.com. It appears to be in dirt with little green balls on top. It's wired into the pot so I can't get it out to check what's on the bottom unless I cut the wire. It's in a humidity tray with stones and I mist it daily. It's in a sunny south facing window. I have a feeling from reading this thread that I am over-watering it so I threw out the stones (gonna get new ones) and fertilized it with the stuff (fish based) it came with. It has some new growth so I think it's able to be saved.... tell me what I should do? Thanks you guys! I live in Virginia in an apartment so I can't plant it outside.

This is a link to my photos..... not sure if this will work. Indeed it says "it's not a valid URL." I used Picasa and copied and pasted the HTML that is supposed to send the photos to a website Here is a link that might be useful: Dying Hollywood juniper

i dont understand your need for a slow growing.. groundcover ... its a bizarre dichotomy to me ... groundcover conifers are easy to train thru pruning.. to cover any given space you want.. in any design ... and most are extremely easy to root ... which they do.. if you just leave them there ... pancake... seems to do about 3 or 4 inches.. without running out there ... all the pine groundcovers [of which your title doest really ask about ... but are used as a comparison] ... though they cover ground ... not many remain short ... getting height in the ..call it.. 6 to 12 inch range, min .. over the years .... so i am back to wondering.. what you are trying to accomplish.. what is your goal ...??? cover space with a short plant??? or grow a second plant under a larger plant.. perhaps one on a standard ...???? e.g. the pancakes i have..... the intention ...was that they would fill bare space [cover bare mulch.. aka ground] .. and provide a green backdrop.. for looking at the mini collection ... instead of large gaps of 2 to 3 feet between one foot plants ... on the other hand.. many of the groundcover pines... will eventually.. swallow up a mini on a one foot standard .... you are asking for suggestions.. based on words that mean different things.. to different peeps.. w/o really telling us you goal ... [which sounds like any hardcore collector.. lol ....because they are a genre i dont have ... lol ] ken