The first mention of cultivated plantings of Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis) dates back to the end of the 18th century. The evergreen coniferous plant attracted the attention of landscapers with its unusual needles, protruding and prickly on mature branches, but at the same time tightly fitting, like green scales, on young shoots.
At first, the needles are quite soft, no more than 3 mm, then, as the shoot matures, the length increases to 12 mm. They lag behind the wood, become harder, and a pair of light, almost white stripes appear on each of them. Like all junipers, a native of China and other regions of the Far East, it is characterized by unhurried growth and rare fruiting. Dark blue cones covered with a dense layer of bluish bloom with 2-3 seeds inside in this species can have a round or elongated shape, different sizes, but always ripen in the second year after appearance.
In Chinese juniper, not only the berries are changeable, but also the plants themselves. In nature, these are large trees with a pyramidal crown up to 20 meters high, and creeping shrubs with thin shoots up to 2.5 mm in diameter and no more than half a meter in height.
Descriptions of popular varieties of Chinese juniper
The variability of the culture, its unpretentiousness, high decorativeness and adaptability have made Chinese juniper one of the favorite plants among bonsaists. This type is no less in demand in landscape design. In the catalogs of nurseries and breeding companies today there are about 50 different varieties of this juniper.
Chinese juniper Blue Alps
The Chinese juniper variety Blue Alps is one of the most common varieties of this evergreen conifer. A plant with bluish-green needles in adulthood forms a bush with a height of 2 to 4 meters. However, it will take a lot of time for juniper to reach such a size. The dense spreading crown with perennial gray or silver needles is decorated with drooping young shoots. Only by the age of 10 does the shrub grow to a height of 2 meters with a crown diameter of about one and a half meters.
In the middle zone, Blue Alps juniper is relatively winter-hardy. With a lack of snow and severe frosts, bald spots and browned needles are noticeable on its branches in the spring. To plant shrubs, you need to choose areas with the expectation of future growth of the seedling. The plant looks good as a dominant among low-growing crops, can be useful in group plantings, and serve as a decorative background for flowering perennials.
Chinese juniper Stricta
This variety of juniper will never get lost among the ornamental shrubs in the garden. According to the description of the Chinese Strict, this plant has a dense cone-shaped crown, consisting of dense branches directed upward. The shoots are covered with green-blue, and in winter, silver-gray prickly needles. Mature plants bear fruit, producing many round, bluish-purple berries.
Culture, like its closest relatives, is durable. With minimal care and the right place in the garden, juniper can live up to 100 years of age. But due to its slow growth, such a juniper shrub of the Stricta variety will reach a height of only 2–2.5 meters. This property of the plant is used in landscaping. Plants take root in small home areas and even in containers.
Chinese juniper Stricta Variegata
In nature, many spontaneous plant mutations often go unnoticed. Breeders, by carefully observing the “population” of the nursery, can promptly detect and fix interesting changes in the appearance of their green pets. Thanks to this noticed mutation, it was possible to obtain decorative varieties of juniper with variegated, unevenly colored needles.
The Chinese juniper variety Strict Variegata fully corresponds to the description of plants of the Strict variety, with one exception. In this case, adult spiny needles of a silver-green hue are adjacent to areas of yellowish-golden, cream or light yellow-green needles.
Like its silvery ancestor, such a bright shrub easily thrives in dry, nutritionally poor or calcareous soils, but does not do well in the shade, where the sunny shade of the needles fades and the plant itself looks depressed.
Chinese juniper Mint Julep
Mint Julep is a cocktail made with strong alcohol and bright green mint syrup. Chinese juniper Mint Julep, named after the original drink, has incredibly fresh needle color and a luxurious, spreading crown. A mature shrub with a crown width of up to 3.5 meters can reach a height of 2 meters. The shoots that form a spectacular bush bend as they grow and take the form of wide arches.
In the garden, it is better for this plant to find a place in the sun and take into account that the crown expands over the years, so neighboring crops are planted at a distance. The shrub will decorate rocky hills, coniferous gardens and a bright background for spring primroses.
Chinese juniper Kuriwao Gold
The main advantage of the Chinese juniper Kurivao Gold is its spreading crown, as if permeated with light, about 1.5–3 meters high. The plant owes this effect to the scaly needles of yellow and green shades that tightly cover the branches. At the ends of the shoots, golden tones are most noticeable and make the entire shrub unusually bright and decorative.
A variety with an average annual growth of about 15 cm, suitable for planting as the only decoration in a corner of the garden, as well as in a group of woody or herbaceous perennials. Based on plants of this variety, you can form. It should be taken into account that the variegated color of the needles remains in the light. In the shadows, ordinary green colors begin to predominate.
In spring, Chinese juniper Kuriwao Gold needs shading, otherwise young shoots and greenery may dry out.
Chinese juniper Spartan
This juniper variety was obtained in the largest American nursery, Monrovia, in 1960. A plant with a dense pyramidal crown formed by vertically directed branches grows to a height of 6 meters and a diameter of about 2 meters. Green needles have a predominantly scaly appearance, although needle-like, longer greens can also be seen on perennial shoots.
Thanks to the high crown density and growth not exceeding 15 cm per year, Chinese juniper Spartan plants lend themselves well to shaping.
Among the cultivated varieties of Chinese juniper, this variety can be considered one of the most winter-hardy. Therefore, shrubs with a characteristic pyramidal shape are planted not only in private gardens, but also in public gardens and used for landscaping park areas and public places.
Chinese juniper Old Gold
Elegant and unpretentious Chinese juniper Old Gold is real gold on the site. A Dutch variety with a dense, squat crown of a beautiful light green or yellow-green hue, at 10 years of age it has a height of 50 cm and a diameter of about a meter. The maximum height of the bush is 150 cm, the width of the crown is twice as large. The needles, densely covering the shoots, have predominantly the appearance of scales.
To maintain the brightness of color and shape, the plant needs regular shaping and plenty of sunlight. Juniper, with its compact size and unpretentious disposition, gets along well in group plantings, looks great solo, and can grow in a container.
Chinese juniper Expansa Variegata
An evergreen shrub with creeping shoots covered with bluish-green needles and milky white needles. Contrasting areas of different shades give the small plant an incredibly decorative, unusual look. Chinese juniper Expansa Variegata is one of the smallest varieties of this species. The height of an adult bush does not exceed 30–50 cm. Since the main growth occurs in the horizontal direction, the diameter of the squat crown reaches one and a half meters or more.
An unpretentious ground cover plant overwinters well under snow cover, but in the spring it needs protection from bright sun and ice crust. Due to spring drying, the bark suffers, and unsightly brown spots and dead areas may appear on the crown.
Coniferous plant species occupy a special place in the landscape design of any garden. Their bright greenery refreshes the area in winter, and their beneficial properties are used by pharmacists and cosmetologists. One of the popular and unpretentious genera of conifers is juniper.
Juniper plants are grown in various climatic conditions. For central Russia, where winter frosts reach -35 degrees, only a few varieties are suitable. These include Cossack juniper.
Botanical features
Cossack juniper (Juniperus sabina) belongs to the Cypress family. It is an evergreen spreading shrub from 0.3 m to 3 m tall.
It develops at a moderate speed: during the first few seasons, the annual growth is 10-15 cm, subsequently - about 40-50 cm, depending on the variety and growing conditions. These plants live up to 300 years.
The needles give off a peculiar smell, which intensifies when you touch it and during humid weather. Juniper plants are dioecious. Berries are formed on female specimens.
Popular varieties
Several varieties of Cossack juniper are used in European gardening. They differ from each other:
- growth rate;
- bush width;
- shade of pine needles.
Mas (Mas). The name means "more" in Portuguese. This fully corresponds to the dimensions of the variety: its height reaches 1.5-2 meters, and the diameter of the crown of an adult plant is 3-5 m. The needles are green, with a slight bluish tinge. The branches are located at an angle to the soil horizon. Young growths are brighter, directed horizontally or slightly hanging down.
Young juniper plant Mas
Rockery Gem. Rockery Jam - translated as "precious stone". A variety with needles of an attractive bluish-green color. It grows horizontally, at maturity its maximum height is 50 cm.
Tamariscifolia. The name "Tamariscifolia" - tamariscoleaf - comes from the name of the plant genus Tamarisk - a shrub with small scale-like leaf blades. This juniper is unpretentious and tolerates partial shade. The shade of the pine needles is gray-green, they are laid tightly, creating a continuous carpet. Variety parameters: height - 0.3 m, in old specimens - up to 1 m, width - 2-3 m.
Juniper Tamariscifolia
There's no Blight. The literal translation is “no rust.” The fungal disease of the same name is the scourge of Cossack junipers. The variety "Tam no Blythe" has beautiful needles of a rich green tone with a slight touch of blue. Low (up to 60 cm), slow-growing cultivar. Over the course of a year, it adds 3-5 cm in height and 10-20 cm in width. In the first years, the branches lie almost entirely on the ground, then they rise in dense tiers in the form of a sandwich. The diameter of an adult bush is up to 2 m.
Young juniper plants Tam no Blight
Variegata (Variegata - “variegated”). It is distinguished by chaotically located cream strokes on the green background of some branches. More compact compared to other varieties: after 10 years of cultivation it reaches a diameter of 1 m and a height of 40 cm.
The Chinese juniper variety Expansa Variegata is similar in description to the Cossack variegated variety. It is distinguished by its more compact growth (30 cm) and spiky needles of a bluish tint. Less winter-hardy - can withstand temperatures down to -23...-25 degrees.
Expansa Variegata
Other types of cold-resistant junipers
Horizontal juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) resembles the Cossack variety in the type of needles. It is distinguished by its prostrate habit: its shoots lie on the ground. An example is the popular Andorra variety, which has a cushion-shaped crown.
Juniper bush horizontal Andorra Compacta
Varieties of common juniper (Juniperus communis) have a horizontal and vertical shape. They have spiny needles, which often turn purple or brown in winter.
Common juniper
Usage
Cossack juniper plants have decorative and medicinal properties. They find application in several industries:
- 1. In landscape design. Due to their resistance to heat and cold, as well as drought and air pollution, the bushes are planted in clumps and massifs, in rockeries and rock gardens, in compositions with roses, deciduous and flowering plants. The ability of the plant to quickly take root and cover the surface of the soil makes it possible to plant it on slopes in order to strengthen the soil.
- 2. In folk medicine. Plants are rich in biologically active substances that have antiseptic properties. Volatile phytoncides can destroy up to 30% of pathogenic bacteria in the air. Dried pine needle powder, juice, bark and berries are used to treat skin and joint diseases - rheumatism, gout, lichen, warts, external ulcers, scabies and others.
- 3. In cosmetology- used for oily skin as a product with a cleansing and rejuvenating effect. Specially prepared masks are rubbed into the scalp to treat hair loss. In aromatherapy and during massage procedures, juniper oil is used, which has a calming and relaxing effect.
- 4. In homeopathy. As a main or additional component of some products, juniper extract is present in microdoses.
All parts of the Cossack juniper, including blue cones, contain poisonous essential oil - sabinol. Plant-based products are used only for external procedures or in very small quantities strictly under the supervision of a physician.
Growing rules
Cossack juniper does not require careful care, but does not tolerate a number of unfavorable factors. These include:
- complete shading, leading to elongation;
- close occurrence of groundwater (50 cm and above), which provokes root rot;
- urine of dogs and cats, causing burns.
Bushes are transplanted in early spring or autumn. The soil must be breathable for rapid development of the root system.
Garden centers and stores sell seedlings with a closed root system (in pots), which actively take root without damaging the roots. When planting, just fill the container with water, carefully remove it and lower the plant into the prepared hole, slightly straightening the lower roots. After the bush is planted, it is watered abundantly and the moisture content of the substrate is monitored for a month.
Cossack juniper is propagated by cuttings and layering. The second method is quite simple: varieties of this crop easily take on new roots by touching the surface of the earth. To speed up the rooting process, the lower branches are dug in (hilled up with a 3-5 cm layer of soil). When the roots reach a length of 8-10 cm (usually this takes about 3-4 months), the branch is carefully separated from the mother plant with pruners and planted in the desired location.
Rooted cuttings
Young bushes are protected from animals. The feces of cats and dogs harm the needles: they turn black and the plant dies. Colonies of spider mites, which suck the juice from young needles, can also be a problem. Over time, it acquires a dull shade, and the bush is covered with a thin, dense cobweb. Acaricides will help get rid of pests.
Spider mite on a plant
To combat rust, which also causes damage to neighboring crops, fungicides are used - drugs against fungal diseases. The disease is identified by the red spore pads and partial drying of the plant branches.
Rust on Cossack juniper
Cossack juniper has more than 20 varieties, differing in the shape and color of the needles. Some of them, barely rising, spread along the ground, others form lush thickets taller than human height. The following cultivars are most valued by gardeners and landscape designers.
Cossack juniper "Blue Danub"
Cossack juniper variety "Rockery Jam"
Cossack juniper “Rockery Gem” (Juniperus Sabina Rockery Gem) is a dwarf, creeping form with a dense, dense, widely spread crown of an asymmetrical shape. The height of shrubs of this variety reaches 50 cm, while the crown diameter varies from 2.5 to 3.5 m. It grows slowly, the growth does not exceed 8-10 cm per year. The skeletal branches are powerful, thick, strongly branched at the ends, and grow unevenly. In young trees, the branches extend from the center of the bush at an acute angle upward, and with age they lie horizontally.
The needles of plants of the Rockery Jam variety are thick, prickly, and rich, blue-green in color. In the center of the crown the needles are needle-shaped, on the periphery they are scale-like. The shade of young growth differs little from the needles on last year's branches.
The Rockery Jam cultivar is undemanding when it comes to soils and grows well in both nutritious garden soils and depleted soils. Pruning is only required if horizontal growth needs to be stopped.
Due to its frost resistance and shade tolerance, the creeping form of the Rockery Jam juniper is widely used in landscape design as a ground cover plant for the design of alpine slides, retaining walls, rocky slopes, heather and Japanese gardens, and walking paths.
Juniper Cossack "Tamariscifolia" or "Tamaris"
Cossack juniper "Tamariscifolia" (Juniperus Sabina Tamariscifolia), sometimes called Cossack juniper "Tamaris", is a low, evergreen shrub, reaching 1 m in height with a crown diameter of up to 2 m. Short shoots are overlapping and grow vertically upward, with age the form is prostrate the crown becomes dome-shaped.
The needles are predominantly needle-shaped, slightly curved, pale green or bluish-green, with a white stripe running along the upper plane. One whorl contains three needles. The “Tamariscifolia” form is drought- and frost-resistant, tolerates the climate of central and northern Russia well, is resistant to smoke and air pollution, and is not demanding on soils: it grows well in both acidic and alkaline areas.
The only disadvantage of the Tamaris variety is its high susceptibility to fungal diseases, especially during periods of prolonged rains. This cultivar can be planted in rock gardens, rockeries or as a single plant on the lawn. Tamariscifolia is widely used for landscaping ravines and as a container crop. It grows well on loose sandy and rocky slopes and wide curbs along roads.
Remember that the needles and fruits of the Tamariscifolia form are poisonous, so it is not recommended to plant plants of this variety near children's playgrounds.
Creeping Cossack juniper "Variegata"
Cossack juniper “Variegata” (Juniperus Sabina Variegata) is a creeping form, reaching a height of no more than 50 cm. The dense, semi-spreading crown lies low to the ground and extends to 1.5 m. The “Variegata” variety, a photo of which you can see in the photo gallery below on this page, sometimes called "variegated juniper" due to its frequent flecks of creamy color.
Juniper horizontalis Variegata
Yalivets horizontal Variegata
Juniperus horizontalis Variegata
Synonyms: Prostrate juniper Variegata.
Decorative coniferous creeping shrub with an original almost flat shape with graceful long raised branches. The crown is asymmetrical, flattened-rounded at a young age, then cushion-shaped. Undemanding, frost-resistant, develops well in city conditions.
Habit: flat-round creeping shrub.
Dimensions: the height of an adult Juniper Variegata reaches 30-40 cm, with a diameter of 1.5-2 m.
Growth rate/vigor:
Juniper Variegata is slow growing. Annual growth is about 10-15 cm.Needles: scaly, needle-shaped, bluish-green with creamy-white patches irregularly scattered throughout the plant. In winter, the needles take on a purplish-violet hue.
Fruits: small, spherical cone-berries, 5-8 mm in diameter, dark blue in color when ripe, almost black. Not edible. They rarely appear in large numbers.
Shoots: creeping, located at an angle relative to the ground, brown.
Soils: Juniperus Variegata is undemanding to soil and moisture and can grow in any well-permeable soil: from dry to fresh, from acidic to alkaline. But it grows and develops best on loose, moderately moist, sandy loam soils with an acidic or alkaline reaction.
Attitude to light: Prostrate juniper Variegata is light-loving and tolerates slight shade. In the shade, the needles lose their decorative properties and fade.
Planting, care: detailed information about planting can be found in the “Planting Care” section. Don’t forget about weeding, cultivation, mulching and watering the tree trunk circle. As a rule, the circle is made below the soil level, assuming that the mulch will be 5-7 cm below the native layer. This circle is a natural water intake (funnel) for regular watering. Do not allow the tree trunk circle with a diameter of 40-90 cm to be covered with weeds, especially with high-quality lawns. Depending on the humidity and air temperature, pour 10 to 30 liters of water per week into the funnel. In autumn and early spring, we add natural compost, improving the structure of the soil, luring soil microorganisms and worms from neighbors closer to our plant.
You can acidify the soil around the tree trunk by mulching with crushed Scots pine bark, which can be collected from any nearby forest. Organic with an acidic reaction. To acidify the soil, you can use garden sulfur, citric acid, orthophosphoric acid, and battery fluid (electrolyte). In the Donbass, our clients successfully use diluted liquid from miners’ tagankas.
Juniper Variegata seedlings purchased from the PROXIMA nursery are provided with long-acting fertilizers with the latest formulas from the best European manufacturers and can be sold in your garden center without additional fertilizing for a whole year. But the greatest advantage of buying potted plants is that they can be planted, without purchasing additional fertilizer, from March to December - even on the hottest days of summer. The plant does not need pruning, with the exception of sanitary pruning in early spring.
Top dressing: for example, Novofert, Yara (Kemiru), Agrekol, Compo are scattered near the tree trunks in spring - nitrogen, in summer - phosphorus, in autumn - potassium.
Juniper diseases: tracheomycosis wilt (fusarium) of juniper, rust of juniper, drying out of juniper branches, Alternaria of juniper, brown juniper schutte (brown snow mold of conifers), juniper schutte, nectriosis of the bark of juniper branches. Treatment and prevention - treatment with fungicides ( Skor, Switch, Maxim, Ordan , Horus, Quadris, Radomil Gold, etc.). Of course, it is better to have a specialist make the “diagnosis”. But as a rule, with the help of the Internet, a modern gardener can independently identify the enemy and choose the right methods and means of plant protection.
Juniper pests: spider mites, juniper leaf miners, aphids and juniper scale insects. In the spring and again in the summer, preventive spraying is carried out with insecticides (Aktara, Enzhio, Aktellik, Match).
Application: Horizontal juniper Variegata is used in single and group plantings as a ground cover plant. It is used on rocky hills, rock gardens, rock gardens, for decorating slopes, slopes, and retaining walls.
Climatic zone: 4, frost-resistant for the entire territory of Ukraine.
Buy Juniper horizontal Variegata in Kyiv at low prices can be found in the PROXIMA plant nursery.
Juniper is an extremely beautiful and quite ancient plant. It appeared on our planet 50 million years ago. The range of juniper covers subtropical, temperate and even subpolar regions of the Earth. It grows both on plains and on the tops of low mountains and ridges.
Today, botanists count about 70 species and varieties of this plant. We will focus our attention on only one of them - this is the Cossack juniper. A description, a list of varieties, as well as tips on planting and caring for it can be found in this article.
Meet juniper!
Juniper is an ancient coniferous plant from the cypress family, which appeared on our planet about 50 million years ago. There are a huge number of its types and forms. Some of them reach a height of 20-30 meters. Others spread along the ground, rising just a couple of tens of centimeters above its surface.
Today, Cossack juniper is most often used in artificial landscaping. This plant is planted in parks and gardens, in private and public areas. With its help, lawns, rocky slopes and “Vietnamese slides” are successfully decorated. Thanks to the rooting of individual branches, juniper very quickly grows in width, forming dense and beautiful thickets. The species has been known in cultural gardening since the end of the 16th century.
Cossack juniper: general description of the plant
The Latin name of the species is Juniperus sabina. This is a dioecious creeping plant up to one and a half meters in height. Most often - in the form of a bush, although there are small trees (3-4 meters high) with curved thin trunks. The bark is brown or red, with obvious signs of peeling.
Cossack juniper is mentioned in the works of the ancient Greek scientist Dioscorides. There is also a legend about a certain harlot Sabina (hence the name of the plant), who used the poison sabinol, found in juniper berries, as a means of getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy. Later, other women resorted to this method. By the way, juniper is one of the most poisonous plants in the world. Poisoning from its berries can lead to severe convulsions, paralysis and even death. Not only the berries, but also the shoots of this plant are poisonous.
The needles of mature juniper are scaly, their structure resembles tiles. When rubbed, it releases a powerful and rather pungent odor. The fruits of the plant are juicy oval-shaped cones, black in color and with a bluish bloom.
Species distribution and habitat
As a rule, in nature, Cossack juniper grows at absolute altitudes from 1000 to 3000 meters. The species is widespread in Southern and Central Europe, Central and Southeast Asia, Siberia, the Caucasus, Primorye and Crimea. Its natural habitats include limestone slopes, bare mountain slopes and sand dunes.
The plant is light-loving, frost-resistant and not particularly demanding on soil. Tolerates long dry periods well. Juniper survives even at very low temperatures (down to -40 degrees Celsius). It is resistant to excessive air pollution, so it is often used in landscaping industrial sites and dusty city streets.
Beneficial properties of juniper
Like many other coniferous plants, juniper has useful (medicinal) properties. First of all, it enriches the air with oxygen and phytoncides. Thanks to this, the space around the bushes becomes clean from harmful bacteria. This property, by the way, was noticed by our ancient ancestors. However, they interpreted it in their own way, using juniper as a weapon against evil spirits.
North American Indians used branches of this plant to treat wounds and skin ailments. Ukrainian Cossacks used juniper needles to get rid of hangovers. To do this, they simply laid the young man who had abused alcohol in the juniper thickets. But in Ancient Rus' they noticed that this plant protects people from snakes.
Cossack juniper shoots contain essential oil, which helps protect woolen products from moths. In addition, it is also used as an effective remedy for warts. An ointment based on juniper is used to treat purulent ulcers on the body; it is also rubbed into the scalp for baldness.
Juníperus sabina and its varieties
The type of Cossack juniper has over two dozen varieties. All of them differ from each other only in the shape of the bush and the shade of the needles. The most popular varieties of Cossack juniper in modern landscape design:
- Tamariscifolia.
- Variegata.
- Erecta.
- Mass.
- Blue Danube.
- Glauka.
Juniper Cossack Variegata is a low-growing, creeping form that rarely exceeds 0.5 meters in height. The crown is very dense and adheres to the ground. The needles have an excellent disinfecting effect - there are practically no insects near the plant. The Variegata variety needs plenty of sunlight. It looks ideal in various container compositions, and is also used in the formation of rockeries and rock gardens.
Cossack juniper Glauka is a spreading and rather large shrub, often reaching one and a half meters in height. It grows very quickly and has spiny green needles. In general, this is an unpretentious and resistant to various pollutants variety, which, however, loves sunny places.
Cossack juniper Tamariscifolia (or simply Tamaris) is a low shrub, not exceeding one meter in height. The crown resembles a dome and reaches 1.5-2 meters in diameter. The needles are predominantly bluish or pale green. This variety is ideal for landscaping ravines and loose rocky slopes. It is highly resistant to air pollution, and therefore is often planted along busy roads.
Juniper propagation methods
The most common juniper in landscaping, Cossack juniper Tamariscifolia, reproduces in three ways (as, indeed, all other species and varieties of this plant):
- By cuttings.
- By layering.
- Seeds.
Let's take a closer look at each of them.
Propagation of Cossack juniper by cuttings is the most effective way. And spring (April-May) is the optimal period for this event. Cuttings from perennial bushes, as a rule, take root much faster (up to 40 days). The ideal temperature for rooting is +16…20 degrees. Subsequently, the rooted juniper cuttings are planted in separate pots for growing. No earlier than two years later they can be planted in open ground.
Perhaps the easiest way to propagate juniper is to use layering. How does this happen? A branch of the bush is bent, a small cut is made and sprinkled with earth. Then the area is lightly watered. This procedure is usually done in the spring, and in the fall the mother branch is cut off, and the young bush is transplanted to a new place.
The seed propagation method is the most troublesome and time-consuming. In autumn, the seeds are placed in small boxes with soil. For the winter, these boxes are taken outside and stored under the snow until spring. In April, juniper seeds overwintered in this way are sown in prepared beds.
Important point! The optimal soil acidity for planting juniper is 4.5-7 pH.
Cossack juniper: plant care
As mentioned above, juniper is an unpretentious plant. Here are the basic rules for caring for this bush:
- During periods of prolonged heat and drought, juniper should be watered especially intensively.
- It is important to feed young bushes with fertilizers for coniferous plants.
- When planting juniper in open ground, it is recommended to liming the soil.
- The soil around the bushes must be periodically loosened and mulched (with peat or sawdust).
- During heavy snowfalls, it is recommended to shake off the snow from juniper branches in order to avoid damage to the plants.
Pruning juniper bushes
In general, Cossack juniper practically does not need pruning. The only thing that needs to be done is to cut out dry and damaged branches.
As a rule, it is carried out in cases where the bushes need to be given a certain shape. This procedure is performed no earlier than in the second or third year of the plant’s life, in April or September. It is best to work with gloves to avoid contact with juniper poison. You can form bushes in bonsai style, coordinating the growth of branches in one direction or another.
Is juniper in the garden a dangerous neighbor?
When planning your own garden, you should be sure to check all plants for compatibility with each other. For example, Cossack juniper should not be planted next to pear, apple, quince trees, currant bushes, gooseberries or roses. After all, it can infect all of the above plants with so-called rust. This disease is caused by a special fungus of the genus Gymnosporangium and appears in the form of large orange spots and growths on leaves and branches.
It is juniper that promotes the spread of rust. Moreover, this happens quite quickly, because several billion harmful spores can ripen on one diseased plant at once. To prevent plants in your garden from becoming infected, it is necessary to regularly carry out a number of preventive measures. Thus, it is recommended to treat trees and bushes (in late spring) with a urea solution. You also need to periodically inspect your garden: juniper branches affected by rust must be cut off and burned.
It is important to note that juniper in the garden is best combined with heather, bulbous and other coniferous plants.
