Any corner of the garden or summer cottage can be decorated with unpretentious and beautiful junipers. In modern landscape design, they have become popular and loved due to their varied shapes, colors, plasticity and unpretentiousness. Any design idea can be easily realized with the help of these conifers that cut beautifully. On your site, you can plant a lush bush or spreading tree, creeping ivy or a columnar monolith. More than 70 species include the genus of junipers. In this article we will tell you about the most popular and low-maintenance species and varieties.
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Frost-resistant types of junipers
These types of junipers most often have large areas... These can be large shrubs growing in light-coniferous forests, or small trees found in the undergrowth of deciduous forests.
Common juniper: photos and varieties
A tree or shrub up to 12 meters in height can have a variety of shapes. Differs in reddish-brown shoots and flaky bark. Shiny, prickly and narrow lanceolate needles are 14-16 mm long. Blue-black cones with a bluish bloom in diameter reach 5-9 mm. Ripen in the second or third year.
Resistant to frost and urban air pollution common juniper can grow on poor sandy loam... The shrub has about one hundred varieties, which differ in their height, color of needles, shape and diameter of the crown. The most popular varieties are:
Suecica cultivar - a dense columnar shrub, whose height reaches 4 m. Bluish-green or light green needle-like needles grow on vertical shoots. Grows well in lit areas. The crown of a shrub planted in the shade can become spreading and loose. This variety of common juniper is frost-hardy, unpretentious and tolerates pruning well. Can be used to create garden compositions.- Green Carpet variety - common juniper, which grows only up to 0.5 m.It grows up to 1.5 m wide, therefore it is widely used as groundcover, for planting on slopes and rocky gardens. Creeping shoots are covered with soft light green needles.
- Hibernika variety - a narrow columnar tree up to 3.5 m high. The needles are light green and thornless. This variety of common juniper grows on any soil. It is recommended to tie it for the winter. Otherwise, the branches may break under the weight of the snow. In the spring, shelter from the spring sun is required.
- Gold Cone variety Is a dense, narrow conical common juniper, growing up to 4 m. The crown width of an adult plant reaches 1 meter. During the period of active growth, the shoots can change color several times. In spring they are bright yellow, in autumn they are yellow-green, and in winter they turn bronze. The shrub is frost-hardy, undemanding to soil fertility, but does not tolerate waterlogging. It is recommended to grow in well-lit places, since the needles can turn green in the shade.
Rocky juniper
A pyramidal tree native to North America in height can reach up to 10 m... Due to their resistance to adverse factors, rocky junipers are in great demand in areas with hot climates. With their help, they create high hedges and various coniferous compositions. The most unpretentious and two varieties are known:
The Skyrocket cultivar is a columnar plant with a dense crown. It reaches a height of 6-8 m. The width of the crown of an adult tree is about 1 m. It grows well on light loamy soils without stagnant water. The variety is frost-resistant, wind-resistant, drought-resistant. Prefers well-lit areas. It is recommended to tie the branches of the bush for the winter.- Blue Arrow is a columnar tree 5 m high and 0.7 m wide. Hard shoots covered with thornless, scaly needles of a deep blue color are tightly pressed against the trunk. The plant is hardy and unpretentious. Loves drained soils and well-lit areas.
Red cedar
This coniferous plant can rightfully be considered the most unpretentious and stable among all types of junipers. In nature he grows along river banks and on the windswept mountain slopes. Virginia juniper wood is resistant to decay. In this regard, it is used to make pencils, and the plant itself is called "pencil tree". It is drought tolerant, frost tolerant and tolerates partial shade.
Varieties of this type of juniper are easily propagated by grafting, cuttings and seeds. A large number of pine berries ripen on the tree every year, from which seeds can be obtained. After stratification, the seeds are sown in the ground and are an excellent planting material for hedges. Most often used for decoration of gardens and parks seven varieties of juniper virginiana:
- Gray Owl is a shrub with silvery-gray needles and gracefully drooping branches. It grows up to one and a half meters. The width of its crown reaches two meters. Additional decorativeness to the shrub is given by a large number of cones. It tolerates pruning, loves sunny areas, hardy.
- The Hetz variety is a plant with bluish needles that grows up to 2 meters. It can be 2-3 meters wide. Only suitable for large gardens as it grows rapidly in width and height. Resistant to almost all weather conditions.
- The Pendula cultivar is a spreading tree up to 15 m high. Its “weeping” branches are covered with green needles with a bluish tint.
- The Burkii variety is a fast-growing, pyramidal shrub, the height of which reaches 5-6 m. At the age of ten years, with a crown diameter of 1.5 m, it has a height of 3 m. It grows with thornless needles of a green-blue hue.
- The Ganaertii variety is an oval-columnar dense tree that grows up to 5-7 m. The branches are covered with dark green needles. In autumn, a countless number of bluish-blue cones form on junipers.
- The Glauca cultivar is a columnar tree up to 5 m high. It branches densely and has a silvery color on the needles.
- Blue Cloud is a dwarf form of the Virginia juniper. It has a height of 0.4-0.5 m, a crown width of up to 1.5 m. Long branches are covered with small gray needles with a blue tint.
Medium junipers: varieties
Shrubs with a wide variety of colors and habits, characterized by good resistance to adverse growing conditions. The most popular varieties:
Variety Pfitzeriana Aurea is a spreading shrub up to 1 m high. The horizontally standing dense branches form a crown 2 m wide. Golden-lemon young shoots are covered with yellowish-green needles. In summer, the color of the plant changes to yellow-green. Prefers sunny places, as it becomes just green in the shade. It grows slowly.- Cold Star has soft, bright golden scaly or needle-like needles. It will grow up to 1 m in height, and up to 2 m in width. It is frost-resistant, undemanding to the soil. It grows poorly in the shade.
- The Hetzii cultivar is a plant up to 1.5 m high.Its wide crown grows up to 2 m. Throughout the year, the shrub is covered with gray-blue needles.
- The Old Gold variety is a compact shrub up to one and a half meters high. It will grow by only five centimeters in a year. In summer, juniper needles are golden yellow, and in winter they turn brownish yellow. It develops poorly in the shade.
- The Mint Julep variety is distinguished by arched branches and bright green scales. The shrub grows fairly quickly in all moderately nutrient-rich soils. By autumn, rounded gray berries are formed on it, which look spectacular against the background of bright needles.
- The Gold Coast variety is a short shrub with horizontal shoots. In height it reaches one meter, in width it grows up to two meters. It grows slowly. Prefers lighted areas and almost any soil. The golden-yellow needles of the juniper become dark in winter.
Chinese junipers: photos and varieties
Slow growing pyramidal treesgrowing in China, Japan, Korea and Primorsky Territory. Their height can reach up to 20 m, so bonsai are often formed from them. They love moist, sufficiently fertile soils. Drought tolerant.
Some varieties of Chinese juniper are spreading bushes and are suitable for decorating small areas:
Variegata has a blue-green pyramidal crown with yellowish-white spots. It grows up to 2 meters in height and up to one meter in width. Prefers moist but well-drained soil. The shrub must be protected from the early spring sun.- Kuriwao Gold is a spreading shrub that is about two meters wide and long. The shape of its crown is round. Young needles are bright green, with age it becomes dark green. In the shade, it loses its color saturation, so it is recommended to plant it in well-lit areas. Suitable for decoration of rocky gardens. Looks good in mixed and coniferous groups.
- Blue Alps is a densely crowned shrub that hangs down at the edges. It grows in width and height up to two meters. It can grow on any soil, but in well-lit areas.
- Blaauw is a shrub with asymmetric ascending shoots. It grows in height and width up to one and a half meters. For him, nutrient soils with a slightly alkaline or neutral reaction are ideal. Can grow in light partial shade.
Junipers Cossack
Most often it is winter-hardy, creeping shrubsthat grow naturally in many regions of Asia and in the forests of Europe. They are often used to strengthen slopes, because they are not very soil-demanding, light-requiring and drought-resistant. Their varieties differ in color of needles, habit and size:
Tamariscifolia is a very original shrub with often spreading branches. In height, it grows up to 0.5 m, and in width it grows up to two meters. The needle-shaped short needles can be of different colors - from light green to bluish green. A plant planted in a sunny area gives a rich color to the needles. In the shade, the needles will become paler. Juniper is undemanding to soil and moisture.- Glauca is a shrub that is about one meter high and two meters wide. Differs in a cushion-shaped crown and gray-blue needles with a bronze tint. Brown-black juniper cones have a bluish bloom, and look very beautiful against the background of dense needles.
- The Arcadia cultivar is a low plant with light green, soft needles. In height it reaches only 0.5 m, but in width it grows up to 2.5 m. With age, growing, it covers large areas. Therefore, a young plant looks like a pillow, from which an exquisite carpet is obtained after a few years.
Juniper horizontal
A North American plant that can be used to decorate retaining walls and as a ground cover plant... The most popular varieties:
- Limeglow is a plant that grows to a height of only 0.4 m and grows up to one and a half meters wide. Its branches are covered with beautiful, bright golden-yellow needles, which makes it possible to use the shrub as an accent for any garden arrangement. Grows poorly on heavy soils and prefers well-lit areas.
- The Blue Forest variety is a dwarf shrub 0.3 m high and 1.5 m wide. Young shoots grow vertically on its creeping crown, giving the impression of a blue miniature forest. The color of the juniper is especially bright and original in the middle of summer.
- Blue Chip is one of the most beautiful creeping junipers. A bush with horizontal shoots spreading in different directions with slightly raised ends looks like a silvery-blue thick carpet. In winter, the needles change color and become a purple hue.
- The Andorra Variegata variety is a dwarf shrub 0.4 m high. The cushion-shaped crown grows up to one and a half meters. Juniper is distinguished by bright green needles with cream interspersed in the summer, and needles of a purple-violet hue in winter.
Juniper scaly
Drought-resistant and undemanding to soil fertility plant, grows naturally in China and on the slopes of the Eastern Himalayas... In landscape design, wide-spreading varieties with silvery needles are used:
Meyeri is a moderately vigorous shrub one meter high. Oblique shoots are distinguished by drooping ends and silvery-blue, short, needle-like dense needles. To obtain a beautiful, delicate, dense shape, a regular haircut is required.- Blue Star is a slow growing dwarf shrub. Growing in height up to one meter, in width it grows up to one and a half meters. Recommended for planting on slopes, rocky hills, curbs.
- Blue Carpet is a fast growing shrub with silvery blue spiny needles. Dark blue cones are covered with a whitish waxy coating. Juniper is widely used to strengthen slopes and slopes.
Nothing cleans and freshens the air in your garden like the junipers planted in it. They will add their shapes and colors to the garden comfort, beauty and originality... You can plant a huge tree, a tiny shrub, or make a composition out of them. Any of the varieties and types of juniper will easily fit into the landscape design of a small summer cottage or a large garden.
