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Junipers
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by Diana Roberts |
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Category:
Shrubs
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| The juniper is an evergreen shrub which comes in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors. There are some which are very low growing, only inches high, to arching spreaders, two to three feet tall, then there is the upright juniper, growing 30-60 feet high. Some spread 15-20 feet, while others never spread past four feet. Junipers vary in color, from yellow, to green, to blue-green. Some are very prickly, while some are quite soft. |
Hot, dry soil
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The one thing all junipers have in common is the love of hot, dry places. They cannot tolerate soggy ground, nor shade. They prefer dry, sandy soil which drains freely. Southern exposure is usually best, but they will grow anywhere there is plenty of light.
When deciding on a juniper for your landscape, you should first look at the location you wish to put it in. If you want to put one in front of a basement window, try to choose one that will not grow tall enough to cover the window, or before you know it you will be wanting to remove it. |
Which Juniper?
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| Upright junipers are great on both sides of a doorway where you might normally want to put a pyramid cedar, but feel the area is too hot and dry. One of my favorite upright junipers is the moonglow. It has a compact shape very much like the pyramid cedar. Skyrocket junipers are also nice, staying very slender. The Wichita blue is slightly more spreading and will take up more space, but if kept pruned is quite striking. |
Low Junipers
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Ground cover junipers are great in rock gardens and growing over the top of a retaining wall. They also do very well on steep banks to keep the soil from eroding away. A few varieties which do well here are the blue rug, Calgary carpet and scandia which is a little taller, up to 18 inches high.
The spreading juniper can be used in a variety of places, mixed with flowering shrubs, under taller conifers, or all by themselves. The mint julep, or sea green, has always been one of my favorites. It's a medium sized shrub, about five feet wide and 3 feet tall, it has arching branches in a somewhat fountain-like form. The sabina, tamariscifolia, and bar harbor are also varieties which have proven to do well here in the north. The golden pfitzer is a lovely color, but I do find they are not quite as hardy as the green varieties. |
Winter care
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Some junipers will turn a purplish color in the winter, so don't assume they are dead just because they change color. Prickly junipers are great to use wherever you may have a problem with dogs. They usually will not go near junipers, and therefore you will not have your foliage turning black from dog urination.
For low maintenance gardening with junipers, you can place heavy-duty landscape fabric under the shrubs, then cover this with a mulch of gravel, limestone or mulch. |
Pruning
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If you find that your junipers are beginning to get out of hand you can prune them. Junipers love to be pruned, it makes them bushier. Dead branches can be cut out and the shrub will grow to fill in the void. |
A lesson learned
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Some years ago I had a juniper that started to die, one branch at a time, till only one green branch was left. I must confess I planted it in a place which had bad drainage and the sogginess was killing it. Before it was able to die I dug it up, replaced the clay soil with very sandy soil, then pruned it leaving the one small green branch. Within a year it was healthy, growing madly and already two feet across. It taught me a good lesson which I have never forgotten.
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