Recently, pot planted, 2 cloud pruned juipers.

Purchased early july, trimmed to make round pom poms. Now the top pom is turning brown? Too much water? Used spike type fertilizers, when planted...any suggestions on my problem. Thanks

I can think of a few possibilities but there are probably others
--sunburn...trimming them exposed parts of the plant that previously had been somewhat shaded from the sun by the outer growth, so when you cut them back the inner parts are all of a sudden getting a lot more sun than they had been
--too much or too little water (since you planted in July and live in a hot climate, too little water is more likely than too much, but if you have heavy soil and a heavy hand with the hose too much would be a possibility as well)
--fertilizer burn (it's best not to fertilize right after planting--give the plant a chance to get its roots going a little first)

Thanks for your helpful hints

Hi Bruce, you have not said IF the plants were already shaped OR if you are starting off to form the shape yourself, IF you are just shaping for the first time then the problem may be that you have CUT off too much foliage for the first time exposing old wood, there are also more types of Junipers than I could ever mention, so again, it will all depend on the type of shrub you have, also, as Ecrane has said about the time of year you chose to cut . prune all conifers either late summer in cooler weather or very early spring.

Junipers are not hot climate tree's / shrubs, and I would always recommend they be kept in shade when first bought as this will allow them to acclimatise slowly and it also allows you time to understand watering, etc. I also agree it is never a good idea to feed any tree's or shrubs when you first buy them and summer is not the best time either as in summer, these plants work so hard to take up water, keep it's foliage from going brittle and making new growth, so extra feeding is like us humans eating till we burst then trying to be active right after, it is just too much.

To test your watering regime, stick your finger into the soil and IF the soil is dry, you are not watering enough, if the soil feels damp, you are maybe giving too much and give less, too wet may mean you need to add some grit to help drainage if too dry, use trowel to dig a hole down to the roots and stick an upturned plastic bottle into the hole, this allows the water from your can / hose pipe to go straight to the roots where most needed.
I would try move the plant to more shade for the hottest months this year to allow it to settle.
When you shape your clouds, you cant remove too much foliage all at once or you send your plant into shock, IF it's been shaped before, then you only need to cut about half inch off spring then same again in autumn, give a feed autumn to give a boost and help recover over winter. re-pot when you feel the roots are too crowded and IF the pot is as large as you can go, then remove from pot and prune some of the finer roots off, add new soil and feed as mentioned before.
hope between us we have helped you understand the needs of your plant, hope it recovers and you can enjoy. Good luck. WeeNel.