Junipers are coniferous evergreens that last years have reached the peak of popularity among decorative conifers. They are used to decorate almost every second area. And those gardeners who have not yet planted this shrub of the Cypress family would like to have it, but are afraid of difficulties in caring for it. The most beautiful of the species, blue junipers, are especially alarming. It is believed that it is more difficult to care for them than their green “brothers”, because they are more capricious and whimsical.
In fact, decorative junipers have green, light green, yellow, silver, variegated and blue needles. The variety of shapes and colors does not make this shrub more difficult to care for. The truth is that blue is the most beautiful of the shades, thanks to which the plant looks noble and majestic and serves as the best decoration for the site. Of course, as with other plants, before growing blue juniper, you need to know everything about the most popular varieties this species and the characteristics of their cultivation.
The reason for the popularity of blue junipers
Why are juniper species with silvery-bluish needles considered the most popular?
- Firstly, they look original and can decorate any landscape composition. High decorativeness distinguishes these varieties from all other numerous representatives of the family.
- Secondly, your decorative qualities blue juniper preserves all year round. On the white snow, the branches, as if covered with a bluish haze, look no worse than among the summer greenery or the autumn riot of colors.
- Thirdly, at blue junipers the widest scope of application. They can be used almost unlimitedly in garden design both private properties and public parks.
Using blue junipers in design:
Blue juniper in landscape design
- landscaping of slopes;
- hedges;
- border plantings;
- tapeworm plantings on the lawn;
- decoration of rock gardens and rockeries;
- landing along the banks artificial reservoirs.
If you decide to plant blue juniper on your site, start by choosing the right variety. To do this, you need to find out which of these plants belong to the blue juniper species.
Popular varieties
Among the blue junipers there are short and tall, spreading and with a compact crown, ground cover and erect.
Versatility of size and height various types blue junipers allows these plants to be used for various purposes, including cultivation in room conditions, in containers or in greenhouses.
Juniper Cossack
If junipers with a blue crown are the most popular of the representatives of this type of conifer, then the Kazatsky juniper is the most popular of all. It includes almost twenty species. The best:
- Tamariscifolia;
- Rockery Jam;
- Cupressifolia;
- Blue Danube.
Tamariscifolia
The shrub grows one meter in height, the diameter of the crown is two meters. The branches are located at an angle of 40 degrees. The needles are prickly, blue with a slight silvering. This shrub seems to be covered with a light coating of sparkling frost at any time of the year.
Juniper Cossack Tamariscifolia
It looks best on rocky surfaces and is also used in rockeries, in combination with light stones.
Rockery Jam
This variety is dwarf. It grows to a maximum height of up to half a meter, but the diameter of the crown can reach five meters, since the plant is creeping. A very beautiful spreading bush seems to be adjacent to the ground. The needles are a blue-turquoise shade, very pleasing to the eye.
Juniper Cossack Rockery Jam
This “handsome” plant is used for solitary plantings on lawns, where it is simply irresistible.
Cupressifolia
Also a low-growing variety, it grows up to 0.6 m, but in terms of spreading it is far inferior to the Rockery Jam variety. The crown diameter is compact - up to one and a half meters.
Juniper Cossack Cupressifolia
The needles are blue-green, in the depths of the branches they have a blue tint. In addition to decorative properties, it has utilitarian properties - the shrub produces numerous, large, aromatic berries. Grown for rock gardens, artificial ponds and border planting.
Blue Danube
An evergreen lush shrub that grows up to 60 cm in height and can reach up to three meters in crown diameter. The ends of the lateral branches are raised. The gray-blue pointed needles are long, up to 6 mm. The needles may have a bluish coating.
All representatives of the Blue Danube variety have a specific smell that repels moths very well.
The berries are black-brown, covered with a bluish coating, up to 12 mm long, ripen annually, but are poisonous. The shrub is a creeping shrub and can withstand frosts of -40°C.
Juniper Cossack Blue Danub
It is ideal to grow it in a sunny area. The variety can be used as a background for flower beds and paths, a background for shrub compositions with flowers and decoratively colored foliage.
Juniper squamosus
Varieties of this species with blue needles are most often used as groundcovers. They can become a spectacular backdrop for decorative deciduous and flowering shrubs and tall perennial flowers.
The most beautiful representatives:
- Blue Chip;
- Blue Carpet;
- Blue Star.
Blue Chip
A low-growing creeping variety that grows in height up to 30 cm, with a crown width of an adult bush of two meters. The main shoots grow horizontally, and the side shoots are directed almost at a right angle upward. The needles have a steel-blue color. The bush looks very exotic. Can be used in rockeries and rocky gardens.
Juniper squamata Blue Chip
Blue Carpet
This blue juniper option is perfect for decoration. alpine slides. The maximum height reaches 30 cm, diameter – 1.5 meters. The crown is blue-gray, close to flat in shape.
Juniper scaly Blue Carpet
The variety is distinguished by its amazing undemandingness to climate conditions, but if the plant does not get sunlight, the needles become faded and uninteresting.
Blue Star
One of the most beloved and valuable blue varieties. It is valued for its delicate silver-blue needles and slow growth. The dome-shaped dense crown does not rise above 60 cm. In a year it grows only 5 cm. The bush can spread one and a half meters wide, but this will also take a lot of time.
Juniper scaly Blue Star
The plant prefers soils that are sufficiently moist, nutritious and located in sunny areas.
This variety is very good to grow in a container, as well as in mini-balcony compositions for decorating loggias, terraces and roofs.
Juniper horizontal
This species is also called prostrate juniper. It includes more than 60 varieties, which are distinguished by needle-shaped needles, long creeping branches and numerous short creeping vegetative shoots. These shrubs are used to decorate plots, balconies, flower beds, rock gardens, in the form of low borders, on terraces and balconies as container and potted plants.
The best horizontal blue varieties include:
- Wiltoni;
- Blue Forest;
- Bar Harbor;
- Ice Blue.
Wiltoni
A creeping creeping shrub that grows up to 20 cm in height and has a bush diameter of two meters. They brought him out back in 1914. And for more than a hundred years, its green-blue branches parallel to the ground have been growing, forming a dense soil cover and intertwining with each other in the shape of a bizarre star.
Juniperus horizontalis Viltoni
Blue Forest
A variety characterized by dense and compact needles and short skeletal branches. The lateral branches are structural, dense, adjacent, vertical. The color is intense blue. The shrub grows up to half a meter. Especially when skillfully formed, it gives a very beautiful, graceful crown.
Juniper horizontal Blue Forest
Bar Harbor
Creeping variety with dense needles. Since the branches are very spread out, and side shoots also spread to the sides, can be used as a ground cover plant. It grows about 30 cm. After the first frost, the blue-gray needles acquire purple tint. Used in the design of public parks, squares, and botanical gardens.
Juniperus horizontalis Bar Harbor
Ice Blue
A very low-growing creeping variety that grows in height no more than 10-15 cm. The width with age acquires about two meters, but this may take decades because the bush grows slowly. The side shoots are located almost vertically, with dense silver-blue needles, which become plum-colored by winter.
Juniper horizontalis Ice Blue
Blue juniper care
After listing and describing the most attractive blue juniper varieties, you need to learn how to care for them.
If you decide to plant one or more blue junipers on your property, you should start by purchasing good quality seedlings.
No one says that this can only be done in a nursery, but only there you can be guaranteed to purchase a seedling of the desired variety with a closed root system.
Before the purchase.
- Carefully inspect the seedling.
- The bush must be healthy.
- The branches are intact.
- There are no wounds on the trunk.
- The side branches do not break off.
- The color of the needles is uniform and corresponds to the variety.
- Roots in a pot or with a lump of soil.
Preparation and planting
It is best to plant an evergreen purchase in a sunny area. They can grow in the shade, but they will probably lose the bright and original color of the needles, and the branches will become loose and sparse.
If several tall shrubs are planted, it is better to keep the distance between them about one and a half meters. Exception - hedge, in which denser planting is allowed, with a distance of half a meter.
Preparing a hole for juniper
The depth of the hole should be from 40 to 60 cm, depending on the variety. A few days before the intended planting, the hole is filled 20 cm with a mixture of sand, peat and turf (proportion 1: 2: 1). Under the soil layer, a drainage layer of the same volume is poured, which consists of coarse sand or broken brick.
The plants are carefully, straightening their roots, planted in a planting hole on a layer of soil and covered with peat. After planting - abundant one-time watering.
Growing
The peculiarities of caring for blue junipers lie in the characteristics of their root system. It is horizontal and located close to the soil surface, so loosening the tree trunk circles should not be deeper than five centimeters. The most convenient option is not to loosen at all, but...
All junipers can hardly tolerate excess moisture. Therefore, watering must be controlled. In summer, it is enough to water the plants once a month. If the weather is very hot and dry, you can spray the crown with a spray bottle. In autumn and winter, you can do without watering altogether.
Pruning of junipers is recommended for sanitary purposes - once a year, in the spring. There are varieties that require formative pruning, but most blue junipers are not one of them.
In the spring, junipers need to be protected from sunburn, and in the winter they need to be insulated from frost and pressure from the snow cover, which can break off the branches.
Are you planning to build your own alpine slide or design a garden plot in an original way? Create comfortable conditions for juniper, which gives its owner not only a good mood, but also healing phytoncides that strengthen the nerves and help overcome the everyday anxiety of our hectic time.
Juniper, a fragrant, long-lived evergreen (500-2500 years) of the Cypress family, has recently become a decoration for personal plots, a striking element of landscape decor. There are more than 70 species of this unpretentious winter-hardy plant, which has a powerful root system, a height of up to 10 m and a growing area from northern latitudes to the tropics. Juniper leaves, depending on the type, are scaly or coniferous in shape, and their color is blue, gray, yellowish and all shades of green, which allows you to create picturesque, multi-level, multi-colored compositions on the site.
Here are some juniper species with a “fashionable” exterior:
- Red cedar (pencil tree)- slender, upright growing shrub/small tree 7-12 m tall and 4-6 m wide. In the first years the plant is compact and conical, then it becomes wide, asymmetrical and openwork. The branches are bent upward. The needles are scaly, needle-shaped in the shade, dark or gray-green, dark red in winter. It grows only in the sun, tolerates large temperature changes, is winter-hardy and wind-resistant. Suitable for topiary haircut.
- Juniper horizontal (prostrate ) - prostrate dwarf shrub 0.2-0.3 m tall and 1.5-2 m wide with creeping shoots. The needles are scaly, the color ranges from green to metallic blue, becoming crimson or dark red in winter. Grows in sun and partial shade, tolerates large temperature changes, is winter-hardy and wind-resistant.
- Juniper medium - vertically growing, asymmetrical shrub 2-5 m high and 3-6 m wide. The branches form layers, the side shoots are often raised. The needles are scaly, the color ranges from dull gray to blue-green; in the shade or after pruning, the needles become needle-shaped. Grows quickly in sun and partial shade, tolerates large temperature changes, is wind-resistant, and winter-hardy. It tolerates simple and topiary haircuts well.
- Juniper durum - a columnar tree native to Japan up to 8 m tall with hard, sharp, yellow-green needles. Very light-loving, undemanding to soil fertility. Males are especially beautiful as tapeworms.
- Chinese juniper - large shrub/tree. The branches have both scaly and needle-like needles of green, bluish or gray, in the shade or with heavy pruning becoming needle-shaped. It grows only in the sun, even in light shade it thins out. Frost-resistant, takes root well, but does not tolerate dry air. IN Middle lane Russia is replaced by cypress trees.
- Juniperus daurica - creeping shrub with ascending branches. The needles are needle-shaped, sharp, with good lighting- scaly, becomes brownish after frost. Light-loving, tolerates light shading, drought-resistant. Suitable for slopes, slopes and rock gardens.
Juniper varieties most commonly used for garden design and home decor:
“anna maria”, “bruns”, “depressa aurea”, “horstmann”, “hibernica”, “Compressa”, “green carpet”, “old gold”, “gold star”, “mint julep”, “skyrocket”, “andorra compacta”, “blue star”, “blue arrow”, “blue chip”.
Selection of seedlings
It is best to purchase a seedling from a nursery, where you can choose the variety and specimen you like, and also get advice on caring for juniper and its neighbors. When buying juniper, pay attention that it root system was developed and occupied the entire volume of the planting container (it is advisable that the seedling be in a solid “dishes” and not in bags, where the root system is easily damaged). Ask the seller to remove the plant from the pot and show you its roots - they should be white, fresh and smell good. The needles of a healthy candidate for planting are lush, without yellowness, rich green in color, the branches are not dry, and the optimal age is 3-4 years.
Place
Juniper is a light-loving plant that loves space, so it is advisable that its crown be in the sun most of the day, otherwise the plant will lose its lushness. Loose, breathable soil for juniper (pH = 4.5-7) can be “constructed” yourself by mixing turf soil and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1. Or you can not bother and buy ready-made soil PETER PEAT “Garden Soil” from the HOBBY line, which will reduce the number of weeds and the percentage of possible plant diseases.
Choose places to plant juniper with a low level of occurrence groundwater to avoid root rotting.
Planting juniper seedlings
Planting of horizontal juniper is carried out from April to the second ten days of May (if autumn is dry, then in late August - early September) and includes a number of simple rules:
- The depth of the planting hole should be twice the height of the seedling and be at least 70-80 cm, and its width should be 2.5 times larger than the root ball of the seedling. A 10 cm drainage layer of crushed stone, gravel or large expanded clay PETER PEAT line VITA is placed at the bottom of the pit. Then there is a sand layer 20 cm thick, and from above to ground level there is a soil mixture of turf soil, sand and PETER PEAT “Garden Soil” soil from the HOBBY line (1: 1: 2). If the soil on your site is heavy, liming it with dolomite flour at the rate of 500-600 g/sq.m.
- Before planting, to prevent diseases, immerse the root part of the seedling for 2 hours in a 3% aqueous solution of potassium permanganate.
- When the planting hole is half filled with the required “ingredients”, pour a bucket of water into it; After planting a seedling/adult plant, water it with two more, this will protect you from the risk of underwatering and drying out of the roots.
- Plant the plant together with a lump of earth, after thoroughly spilling the pot with water. Try not to damage the roots and root ball of soil. When planting, the root collar of young seedlings is level with the ground, for young seedlings - 2-3 cm, and for adult junipers - 10 cm above ground level.
- Between neighboring young junipers there should be a distance of 0.6-1 m, between large ones - 1.5-2.5 m. It is necessary to calculate so that the distance between already adult individuals is 1.5-4 m, taking into account the overgrown crowns.
- Mulch your plantings with a 5-8 cm layer of sawdust, dead leaves, pine bark PETER PEAT line DECO or special artificial material.
Replanting juniper
This is an extremely undesirable and painful procedure for the juniper, so it is better not to make mistakes with the place of its initial planting. But once you have decided, take care of landscaping the “correct hole” (see Planting) and creating comfortable soil by mixing coniferous soil, peat, sand in equal parts with snitroammophos (30-40 g/sq.m). Fill the half-filled hole with a bucket of water and pour it again with 2 more buckets after the juniper has finally settled in the new place. 2 days after transplantation, feed the plant with liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT “Living Force: Stress Resistance”.
Replanting juniper from the forest
You can dig up a juniper tree in a coniferous forest, guided by the following parameters: height no more than 50 cm, straight trunk, all needles are green, no dry twigs. Dig up the ground 0.5 m around the trunk and pull out the plant along with the lump, carefully cutting off the roots and trying to leave them as long as possible. Place the seedling in a bag and, without destroying the lump under any circumstances, take it to the site, to the prepared hole. You need to plant juniper, clearly repeating its forest orientation to the cardinal directions: to do this, while still in the forest, mark the “notched” side of the earthen clod with a stick or simply tie a thread.
Feeding juniper
In April, feed your juniper with mineral fertilizer PETER PEAT “NPK 15-15-15” from the MINERAL line. In the future, water it monthly with liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT “Living force: for coniferous crops”, combining the fertilizer with watering and first lightly loosening the tree trunk circle. But if the plant is already growing well, fertilize it every other month. Alternative fertilizers:
- nitroammophoska (30 - 40 g per 1 m²);
- “Kemira Universal” (20 g per 10 liters of water).
Juniper propagation
Seeds. Not all varieties of juniper can be grown from seeds - hybrid varieties(labeled f1) do not produce offspring in this way. Natural pollination of the plant provides too little planting material, and it can be collected from two-year-old and older junipers strictly during the darkening of the berries, but not later. Further collected seeds stratify: put a layer of sand and moss in a box 20x30x30 cm; place a thin layer of juniper seeds on it; on top is a layer similar to the first. The box should stay outside all winter and the first half of spring. This will speed up seed germination, because... seeds that have not undergone this procedure will be able to sprout only after a year. In May, soak juniper seeds for 30 minutes in a 3% solution of potassium permanganate, then 2 hours in liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT and plant in prepared beds (see section Planting) according to a 50x80 cm pattern, followed by watering, weeding, and loosening the rows.
Cuttings with a “heel”. In early spring, early in the morning in cloudy weather, cut branches 12 cm long from an adult juniper so that they have “heels” - 2-3 cm pieces of the trunk. Remove the needles from them and place them for a day in a solution of liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT “Living force: for soaking seeds”, which stimulates root formation. Next, immerse the juniper cuttings 3 cm into pots with a diameter of 15 cm with a substrate of sand, garden soil and peat (1: 1: 1), water and cover with film. Rooting temperature +22-28°C, humidity of the upper part of the cuttings 90%. Place the pots on the windowsill, towards the light. Remember, the soil should always be moist, but overwatering can cause root rot. Every 5 hours, remove the film to allow the cuttings to breathe and check the moisture content of the substrate. After 30-50 days, the plantings will have roots; after another 2 months they can be transplanted into pots, and in a permanent place - after 2-3 years.
In a greenhouse. Prepare a hole 25 cm deep in the garden bed, lay drainage made of expanded clay or small crushed stone 5 cm thick on the bottom, and on top - a soil mixture of sand and peat (1:1). Install arcs 25-30 cm high above the resulting bed and cover them with thick film. Sprinkle thoroughly with water and bury the cuttings 3 cm into it in increments of 40-50 cm. Do not forget to ventilate every 5 hours, and in sunny weather, remove the film.
Juniper care
In the first year after planting, the soil under the juniper must be carefully loosened so as not to damage its root system. You can add a little peat or pine nut shells from the PETER PEAT line DECO to the soil. The top of the tree trunk circle can be mulched with sawdust or dry leaves.
Watering juniper
Juniper can go without water for a long time, but it still needs to be watered once a month: one plant should have 15-25 liters of water. In hot summers, he loves a weekly water shower from a watering can or spray bottle - this procedure is best done in the early morning or evening. If the summer is rainy, a shower once every 3 weeks is enough. Water the young seedlings along the edge of the hole once a week.
Trimming. Juniper “for life” does not need pruning, you just need to remove the dry branches that appear. But when forming the crown, you can also cut off “unnecessary” healthy branches, only a little, because the plant may get sick.
Shelter. To protect the juniper from fractures due to heavy snowfall, tie its branches with twine and periodically shake off the snow from them. It is a good idea to cover young specimens with spruce branches or aspargan. Before winter, be sure to mulch the tree trunks of plants with peat or sawdust to a thickness of 8-10 cm.
In spring, the sun mercilessly burns the juniper needles, so do not immediately remove the covering material “forever” - let the juniper gradually get used to the light, increasing the daily time it is exposed by 15-20 minutes. As soon as the snow melts from the tree trunk, remove the old layer of mulch, dig up the soil to 5-8 cm, level it and make a new layer of mulch.
Diseases and pests
Happy juniper plantings to you!
Description: grows naturally in the Atlantic region North America. It grows in the USA and Canada (from Newfoundland to British Columbia and south to Massachusetts and Montana), where it is found on sandy banks of rivers and lakes, hillsides and mountains.
Juniper horizontal
Photo by Anetta Popova
Close to the Cossack juniper, a creeping shrub pressed to the ground up to 1 m high. with long branches densely covered with bluish-green tetrahedral shoots. The needles are green or gray and turn brown in winter. On reproductive shoots, the leaves are often needle-shaped, elongated-lanceolate, sharp, spiny, somewhat spaced from the shoot, 3-5 mm long, 0.8-1 mm wide, saber-shaped, rounded on the back. Scale-like leaves are 1.5-2.2 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, oblong-ovate, briefly pointed at the apex and pressed to the shoots, with a small resinous gland. Shish berries are 5-8 (-9) mm in diameter, bluish-black, with a bluish coating, with 3-4 ovoid seeds.
Introduced into cultivation in 1840, it is currently common in botanical gardens and arboretums; it is rare among amateur gardeners, but deserves wider distribution.
In GBS since 1960, 3 samples (22 copies) were grown from seeds sent from Toronto, Morden (Canada), there are samples of GBS reproduction. Shrub, at 15 years height 0.5 m, crown diameter 160 cm. Vegetation from 12.V ± 7. Grows very slowly. The annual growth is 0.5 cm at a young age, after 10 years the growth of the main shoots is up to 20 cm. Does not generate dust. Winter hardiness is high. 72% of winter cuttings take root without treatment.
Agricultural technology: suffers from dry air, has little demand for soil richness. It grows slowly, especially in the first years of life. It is better to replant in the spring with the obligatory preservation of the earthen coma. Grows well in city conditions. Winter-hardy. Propagated by seeds and cuttings. In its decorativeness it is in no way inferior to other creeping species of this genus.
Juniperus horizontalis "Glomerata"
Photo by Konstantin Korzhavin
Promising for covering slopes and rocks. For rock gardens and garden plots. It is especially beautiful in spring, when the bluish or steel color of the needles becomes more pronounced. It is good to plant against the lighter green color of low-growing forms of common juniper. It has been known in culture since 1840. In St. Petersburg, I. R. Schroeder was the first to test it (1861). Currently grown in the collection of the VIN Botanical Garden. One of best views as a ground cover juniper.
In American nurseries, a number of cultivated forms of this species are bred, which were discovered growing wild and then propagated. The differences are very limited and are only visible when the plants are side by side, such as at Morton's Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, USA.
"Admirabilis". The form is fast-growing, but squat, flat, 20 - 25 cm high. The shoots are short and directed forward, bluish-green, slightly raised. Found in the Rocky Mountains; introduced into culture at the Plumfield nursery.
"Adpressa". The form is dense, whip-like, up to 10 - 15 cm high, very fast growing. The needles are green, at the end - white-green. Grows quickly. Winter-hardy. Propagated by cuttings (67%). Introduced into culture at the Plumfield nursery (USA). Recommended for landscaping terraces and roofs. When grown in containers, you can plant them in rock gardens rock gardens, create groups on the lawns
"Alpina". The trunk is at first almost straight, then more inclined, but with raised or almost straight branches, up to 75 cm in height. The leaves are often needle-shaped, 3 - 4 mm long, more or less bluish-green, purple in autumn.
"Аudorra"- J. horizontalis "Plumosa". In 1962, discovered and propagated in the Andorra nursery, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, USA.
"Argentea". The shape is whip-like, very dense, 15 - 20 cm tall. The foliage is bluish-silver. Plumfield Nursery.
"Var. Harbor" . The shape is dense, creeping. The branches are very thin, less than 1.5 mm thick; the main branches are recumbent along the entire length and at the ends; lateral branches rise obliquely and differ from each other; young shoots are orange-brown, purple at the ends. The leaves are very small, appressed, covered with a gray-green coating, and have a purple tint in autumn. The first description is given by Hornibrok, it is too general and does not make it possible to identify the plant; besides this, there are many types in America, and few can say for sure what the original type is.
"Blue moon". The whip lies on the ground. The shoots are very tender, beautiful, bluish-green, brown in winter. 1976, Minier.
"Douglasii". The shape is whip-like, creeping. The shoots are long, with age reaching 2 - 3 m in length, intersected in the center by branches 30 - 40 cm long; the ends of the shoots are long and straight. The branches are 5 - 8 cm long, raised and directed forward. Leaves are scale- or needle-shaped. The scaly leaves are very dense, appressed, gray-green, as if covered with blue frost, with a slight purple bloom in late autumn and winter. The needle-like leaves are numerous and located on the branches. (- J. horizontalis douglassii, J. glauca major). Named for a place in the nursery area of Waukegan, Illinois. Until 1961. Well-known variety.
"Emerald spreader". The shape is very flat, spreading along the ground. The branches are dense with delicate, emerald green, fan-shaped shoots. 1967, Monrovia Nursery. Plant. Pat. No. 2752.
"Emerson"(female). Fast growing ornamental shrub, flatly covering the ground, 3 - 5 m wide. The leaves are scaly and needle-shaped, equally bluish-green throughout the year (- J. horizontalis “Marshall”, J. hor. “B1ask Hill`s Creer”). Discovered in 1915 in the Black Hills, South Dakota, propagated by G. Marshall Nursery, Arlington, Nebraska, by Professor Emerson, University of Nebraska.
"Eilicina"(female). The form is slow-growing and highly branched, densely covering the ground. The branches are short, delicate, fern-like, with short shoots directed obliquely forward. The bark is light brown. The needles are green, with a purple tinge in winter. In 1936, propagated at the Plumfield Nursery.
 Juniperus horizontalis "Glauca"
Photo by Andrey Kopysov "Glauca". Appearance whip-like, sloping; the main branches are straight, at first they lie tightly on the ground, later in the center the branch is layered on top of each other, reaching 30 cm in length; The branches are numerous, 2 mm thick, directed forward; due to the tightly adjacent leaves, they appear thread-like, bluish-steel in color; they do not color in winter. The leaves are subulate, located mainly in the center of the plant, on weaker shoots, four-rowed, tightly adjacent to each other. In winter, the color does not change. Grows slowly, prefers fresh, well-drained, poor soil. Moisture-loving. Photophilous. Suffers from dry air and high temperature. Does not tolerate transplantation well. Valuable ground cover plant. Propagated by cuttings (80%). seeds, layerings. It appeared in culture in 1939, in Arnold Arboretum (USA) as a result of selection. Recommended for greening roofs, can be displayed in containers on the streets and in the interiors of buildings, suitable for rocky areas and road slopes. |
"Glenmore"(female). One of the shortest and slowest growing forms of the species in question. The branches are creeping; shoots are almost erect, thin, matte light brown. The leaves are dark green, with brown tips in winter. Discovered growing wild in 1832 by Robert Moore in Wyoming; propagated by Marshall Nursery, Denver, Colorado.
 Juniperus horizontalis "Ice Blue"
"Icee Blue" (= "Monber"). Sport from the "Wiltonii" variety. Dwarf form with average growth rate. Height up to 15 cm, width up to 2.4 m. Evergreen shrub with very flexible and long creeping shoots, forming a bluish-green dense carpet. Small cones with a bluish coating, 5-7 mm in diameter. The needles are scaly, bluish-green, and in winter they acquire a purple-plum hue. Photophilous. Prefers fairly moist, sandy loam soils, does not grow well in heavy soils. Winter-hardy, resistant to heat, drought, undemanding to soil pH. Easily tolerates transplantation and adapts. |
  Juniperus horizontalis "Limeglow"
The photo on the right shows winter coloring. Photo by Epictetus Vladimir "Limeglow". Sport variety "Youngstown". Translated as "glowing yellow". A wide, dense shrub, vase-shaped and reaching 0.4 m in height and 1.2 m in diameter. It grows up to 8 cm per year. The needles have an intense golden-yellow color in summer and brown-yellow in winter. The needles are not sensitive to spring burns. In dry and hot weather in summer it can be damaged by the sun. Grows well in any soil; in sunny places it has a more intense yellow color. Recommended for rocky gardens, heather and home gardens and color compositions. |
"Livida". Clone found in the Rocky Mountains. The shape is dense and flat, 10 - 15 cm high. The shoots are short, raised and directed forward, bluish-green. Plumfield.
"Marcellus". All shoots are creeping, gray-blue, purple in winter. Selected in the USA before 1960; in Holland in culture.
"Petrea". The shape is dense and flat, 18 - 25 cm high. The foliage is matte silver-green; the same color remains in winter. Plumfield.
"Planifolia". Very fast-growing horizontal form, 20 - 25 cm tall, with long powerful branches that are covered with short feather-like shoots; silver-blue leaves, excellent ornamental plant. Plumfield.
"Prostrata". Lies tightly on the ground, creeping far, up to 4 m wide and 0.3 m high. The branches are long, thick, the ends are slightly raised. The branches are numerous, densely standing; the branches are bluish-gray with purple ends. The needles at the ends of the shoots are scaly, gray-blue. KHN 89 (- J. sabina prostrata). A long-known form.
"Pulchella". The form is particularly slow-growing, flat, whip-like, 10 - 15 cm tall. The leaves are needle-shaped, gray-green, the ends of the shoots are blue. In 1935, propagated in the Plumfield nursery.
"Sea Spray". American selection. Bred by Frank F. Serpa at Hines Hulsale Nursery, Santa Ana, California. Y. S. Plant. Pat. 6 3140.
"Turquoise spreader". The shape is dense and whip-like, highly branched with soft, thread-like, spreading shoots, and does not form a “hill” in the center. The needles are turquoise-green. From nurseries, 1967 Y. S. Plant. Pat. No. 2773.
  Juniperus horizontalis "Wiltonii"
Photo on the left of Anetta Popova Photo on the right EDSR. "Wiltonii". The form is carpet-like, very slowly growing, up to 10 cm high, densely branched. The needles are often awl-shaped, very small, silver-blue (- J. horizontalis "Blue wiltonii", J. horizontalis "Wilton carpet", J. hor "Blue rug"). Around 1914, discovered by J. van Heyningen, southern Wilton, Connecticut on Vinal Naven Island, Maine Due to its small stature and beautiful coloration, it is considered beautiful. garden plant. Propagated by cuttings (87 - 91%). Due to its low growth and short coloration, the needles are a very ornamental plant. Recommended for roof gardening, for growing in containers, for rocky gardens where planting in large groups is preferred. |
"Wangstoun". The only selection "Plumosa compacta", but lower, lies on the ground, light green. Plumfield.
"Uukon Belle". The shape is whip-like, widely spreading. The leaves are silver-gray. Known as "Solid as Steel"
The horizontal juniper plant is a type of evergreen creeping plant. Its subspecies - chip - is a dense shrub with branches that are raised upward.
general characteristics
This is a juniper whose growth rate is low. Blue chip needles with scaly texture, silver-blue hue summer period. In winter, this juniper changes its color and becomes purple, brown or lilac. Upon reaching 10 years of age, its height becomes about 20 cm and its diameter is 150 cm.
Its habitat natural habitat extends from Canada to the Atlantic region of the United States. Like all junipers, it belongs to the cypress family and is quite close to the Cossack juniper.
The fruits of the plant are spherical cone-shaped berries, 5-6 mm in size, almost black. The main difference between the Blue chip variety is that it perfectly tolerates gas and smoke in the atmosphere, which makes it suitable and, most importantly, profitable for planting in a modern city. In addition, it itself perfectly generates clean air and cleans everything around from various kinds of microbes at a distance of up to 10 m.
Planting shrubs
The Blue Chip variety is not very demanding on soil, but for planting in open ground mulching is necessary. It takes root well on sandy and slightly acidic loamy soils, but does not like stagnant moisture. At the same time, it tolerates frost and heat well, which is important for regions with constant changes in temperature conditions.
This juniper is recommended to be planted in sunny places or where there is partial shade. After removing the plant from the container, it should be thoroughly watered before the actual planting process. The planting hole should be twice as large as the root system. To achieve good survival, the soil must be replaced with a nutrient mixture. The latter consists of equal parts of sand, peat and turf soil. A ready-made soil mixture for coniferous trees is also suitable, which should be mixed in equal parts with the soil for planting. This is not surprising, because the natural habitat of juniper is the sandy shores of bodies of water, for example, large lakes.
It would not be superfluous to add complex mineral fertilizer. This transition layer will allow the roots to better grow into the soil. Heavy soils and the presence of groundwater require drainage measures. Broken brick or gravel is suitable for organizing drainage. The layer height should be about 20 cm. During planting, the root collar of Blue Chip juniper should be level with the ground.
There is no need to create a shelter as such, but in early spring, when the sun begins to shine brighter, a young juniper may get a burn on its needles. To prevent this from happening, it needs to be shaded with agrofibre or spruce branches.
How does the shrub reproduce? Varietal forms are propagated using spring cuttings, which should be taken from short side shoots. The shoots must have a so-called heel, and they are taken before the buds have awakened or at the very beginning of their awakening. The rooting process begins at a temperature of 15-18 °C, and then it rises to 20-23 °C. Half of the winter cuttings take root.
The plant can also be propagated by layering, The rooting process in this case takes place throughout the year. However, in this case, it will not be possible to maintain the usual shape of the crown.
Juniper Blue Chip: features of the variety (video)
Watering and fertilizing
During the first year of planting, juniper should be watered frequently. This is necessary because the root system is still relatively small and compact, and is incapable of complete and independent consumption of moisture and necessary substances from the soil.
Then the watering process is carried out 1-2 times a week. This is especially true for dry periods of the year and is primarily necessary for still young plants. We should not forget about this, because it is quite easy to lose a plant at such a time.
To prevent the process of moisture evaporation from occurring so quickly, you can mulch with wood chips or pine bark in a layer of 5-7 cm. In this case, you can water the plant much less often - only when the top layer of soil dries out.
Spring feeding in the period from April to May it is produced with nitroammophoska or with the help of complex mineral fertilizers.
In October, potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are applied. If the juniper is affected by fungal diseases, it should be treated with fungicides:
- Foundationazole;
- Topsin.
Prevention of bush diseases
Even if the plant is healthy, preventive measures are also periodically indicated. These include treatment with Bordeaux mixture 1%.
If the juniper has become the target of pest aggression, for example, aphids or caterpillars, it should be treated with insecticides. Drugs like Aktara or Confidor are quite effective. The treatment is carried out twice, the interval between such actions should not exceed a week or 10 days. Otherwise, negative processes may become irreversible.
There is no need to specifically prune this juniper. Only sanitary pruning may be required, which includes getting rid of dry, diseased or abnormally growing branches. It is produced in early spring.
How to plant juniper (video)
Scope of application
The plant perfectly decorates borders and walls. Can be used as a living carpet, great for rock gardens. In addition, a good and powerful root system allows this juniper to be used to strengthen various slopes and slopes. It can also be planted on rocky retaining walls. It is well suited for decorative molding, and in urban environments it is also an excellent container crop.
Material prepared by:
President of the Association of Gardeners of Russia (APYAPM), Doctor of Agricultural Sciences
Specialist of the Association of Fruit, Berry and Planting Material Producers (APPPYAPM) for testing and certification of planting material of fruit and berry crops
Using site materials udec.ru
The most common varieties of horizontal juniper
Creeping forms of junipers were cultivated in the mid-19th century. To date, more than 100 varieties of horizontal juniper have been bred. All these plants lie low to the ground, have an outstretched crown, are quite frost-resistant and do not require additional care in adulthood. Most varieties of horizontal juniper are used as a container crop or ground cover plant when creating landscape compositions.
Juniper horizontal "Andorra Compact"
Juniper horizontal "Andorra Compact" (Juniperus horizontalis Andorra Compact)- a dense compact shrub, not exceeding 35-40 cm in height. The crown is regular in shape, dense, symmetrical, cushion-shaped, reaching a diameter of one meter. Like all junipers, the “Andorra” variety grows very slowly, the annual growth is no more than 1 cm. The skeletal branches grow evenly, from the center of the bush they rise upward obliquely, and then continue to grow horizontally. The needles are very small, ash-green in color, and with the onset of cold weather they acquire a light purple tint.
The cone berries are spherical, fleshy, gray-blue in color with a bluish coating. The Andorra Compact variety can grow in both light and slightly shaded areas. Prefers moderately nutritious, fairly moist soils, without stagnant water. Widely used to design alpine slides, retaining walls, rocky and heather gardens, slopes, coastal zones ponds and walking paths.
Juniper horizontal "Blue Chip"
Juniper horizontal "Blue Chip" (Juniperus horizontalis Blue Chip)- a slow-growing dwarf shrub, reaches a height of 30 cm with a crown diameter of 1.5 m. The needles are needle-shaped, prickly, dense, short (up to 5 mm). In summer, the needles are colored bluish-blue, in the fall they acquire a brown, purple or lilac hue. The cones are small (up to 6 mm), spherical in shape, almost black in color.
The main difference between the Blue Chip variety and other cultivars is its increased tolerance to air pollution and smoke; it develops well in urban conditions. Shrubs of this form are not demanding when it comes to soil, but when planted in open ground they need to mulch the planting circle. The Blue Chip variety is light-loving, drought- and frost-resistant. A fairly powerful root system allows this ground cover plant to be used to strengthen slopes and slopes; it is often used for planting on rocky retaining walls. It tolerates decorative molding relatively easily and is widely used as a container crop.
Juniper horizontal "Variegata"
Juniper horizontal "Variegata"(Juniperus horizontalis Variegata) is a shrub with a dense cushion-shaped crown. Unlike other varieties, this cultivar is more massive, reaching a height of 50-60 cm. The crown is asymmetrical, extends 2.5-3 m, in young plants it has a flat, round shape, becoming cushion-shaped with age. Also, the “Variegata” form is characterized by accelerated growth, growing by 25-30 cm in diameter and 10-12 cm in height per year. The skeletal branches are mainly located horizontally, diverging unevenly in different directions, only slightly rising above the ground. The needles of the Variegata variety shrubs are scale-like, soft, thin, and colored a rich blue-green color.
The main difference between this cultivar and other varieties is the frequent inclusion of shoots with yellowish-cream colored needles. The variegated, contrasting color is preserved even if the shrub grows in a shaded area.
The cone berries are round, dark, with a bluish coating. The shrub is frost-resistant, prefers nutritious, moderately moist, drained soil. The bright color allows the Variegata variety to be used as an accent plant for heather and rocky gardens.
Juniper horizontal "Ice Blue"
Juniper Cossack "Ice Blue" (Juniperus horizontalis Ice Blue)- one of the most widely used dwarf shrubs by European gardeners. Due to its modest size (up to 15 cm in height with a crown diameter of 1.5 m) and the bright color of its needles, the Ice Blue variety is widely used as ground cover plant when designing contrasting compositions.
At the beginning of summer, the needles of the Ice Blue cultivar are colored bright blue, by autumn they acquire a bluish tint, and in winter they become purple. Despite its apparent fragility, dwarf plants This variety is drought-resistant, frost-resistant, and tolerates air pollution well. With additional watering during dry seasons, the growth of shrubs accelerates.
Ice Blue prefers fresh loamy soils and well-lit areas. The Ice Blue cultivar reliably protects the soil from erosion and drying out, and is an excellent “neighbor” for other plants, since it absolutely does not compete for sunlight. It easily tolerates cutting and shaping, and takes root well when transplanted by grafting into small trunks.
Juniper Cossack "Viltoni"
Juniper Cossack "Wiltoni" (Juniperus horizontalis Wiltoni)– a highly decorative dwarf shrub with densely growing young shoots. Thin branches, spreading low along the ground, spread out in a star-shaped manner in different directions from the center of the tillering and form many lateral shoots. When rooted, the shoots intertwine and form a continuous evergreen carpet. The annual growth of junipers of the Wiltoni variety is no more than 10 cm.
The needles of the “Viltoni” shape are needle-shaped, very small, silver-blue in color. Its low growth and bright color make it possible to use this cultivar for planting in rockeries and rock gardens. Also, this variety is suitable as a container crop and can be an excellent decoration for loggias and terrace balconies. Like most junipers, the “Viltoni” form is not picky: it is drought- and frost-resistant, resistant to urban conditions, and undemanding to soils.
It develops best on fresh clay or sandy loam substrates, as well as on soils with a high lime content. When planted in sunny areas, the color of the needles becomes more saturated and bright. Caring for junipers of the "Viltoni" variety involves mulching the planting circle with mown grass or other organic materials to maintain sufficient soil moisture on hot days.
Juniper Cossack "Glauka"
Juniper horizontal "Glauca" (Juniperus horizontalis Glauca)- an evergreen dwarf shrub, the height of which by 10 years does not exceed 20 cm, and the crown diameter is only 40 cm. By the age of 30, the cultivar can reach 40 cm in height and 2 m in diameter. The annual growth is no more than 4 cm in height and 6 cm in width.
A distinctive feature of the “Glauka” variety is the stable preservation of needles of a steel-blue hue all year round, while the needles of most junipers darken with the onset of cold weather, acquiring a brownish color. Numerous shoots of the Glauca form are thin, strictly horizontally directed. Due to the tight fit of the needles, the branches of the cultivar appear thread-like. In young plants, the shoots are pressed tightly to the ground, with age they rise upward, and the dwarf shrub becomes like a bluish mound.
The variety "Glauka" is frost-resistant, well adapted to urban conditions, prefers sunny places. Unlike other cultivars, this form does not tolerate drought well, so during dry seasons the plants require additional watering. To maintain soil moisture, the planting circle should be mulched with grass clippings or other organic materials. As a ground cover plant, the Glauka variety is widely used to strengthen slopes and slopes, decorate coastal areas of reservoirs, rocky and heather gardens. Often used as a container hanging plant when landscaping roofs, terraces, balconies and loggias.
Horizontal juniper variety "Lime Glow"
Juniper horizontal "Lime Glow" (Juniperus horizontalis Lime Glow)- a dwarf shrub with a rounded, symmetrical crown.
The height of an adult plant is 40 cm with a crown diameter of 1.5 m. The skeletal branches are directed horizontally and upward, the tips slightly droop.
The shoots grow in different directions quite evenly.
This cultivar acquired its name because of the unusual, canary-lemon color of the needles.
With the onset of cold weather, the needles acquire a bronze tint. In summer, young plants appear completely yellow; in mature shrubs, only the tops of the branches remain yellow.
The bright shade of the needles is preserved only when planted in sunny areas, therefore an indispensable condition for the high decorativeness of the “Lime Glow” variety is maximum insolation (irradiation of surfaces sunlight). Like all junipers, this form is undemanding to soil, drought- and frost-resistant. High decorative qualities make it possible to use plants of the Lime Glow variety as bright accents when composing exquisite landscape compositions.