Long-lived perennial species in drylands tolerate a range of environmental conditions over their lifespan, but young plants are more vulnerable to stressful conditions than mature plants. To understand plant community stability, it is essential to evaluate how variable weather and disturbances influence the growth and establishment of new individuals. Over 760,000 km2 of temperate midlatitude drylands of western North America are dominated by big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) plant communities, a long-lived woody species. Due to historic degradation and loss, the conservation of remaining big sagebrush habitat is a public land management priority. Big sagebrush recruitment is often the most challenging aspect of restoration treatments, yet relatively little is known about the growth and development of juvenile big sagebrush plants under field conditions. We collected 73 juvenile big sagebrush plants (<20 cm height) to investigate how weather, shrub canopy modification, and site conditions affect growth rate. We found no significant effect of mechanical canopy reduction in plant communities on the growth rate. Annual growth in our chronology was positively and significantly correlated with June precipitation, and establishment was influenced by winter, fall, or spring precipitation and summer temperatures. We found that big sagebrush height and stem diameter are significant predictors of age. Our findings demonstrate that morphological characteristics can be used to estimate the age of juvenile plants to assess stand dynamics and growing conditions. Our findings also demonstrate that the growth of juvenile big sagebrush plants is tightly coupled to weather and that growth has a predictable response to variable conditions.