Juniper scaly. Scaly juniper: description, best varieties, planting and care. Chinese junipers: photos and varieties

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 various shapes, colors, plasticity and unpretentiousness. Any design idea can be easily realized with the help of these conifers, which cut perfectly. On your site you can plant a lush bush or a spreading tree, creeping ivy or a columnar monolith. There are more than 70 species in the juniper genus. In this article we will talk about the most popular and low-maintenance species and varieties.

Frost-resistant species of junipers

These types of junipers are most often have large habitats. 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 high can have a variety of shapes. It is distinguished by reddish-brown shoots and flaky bark. The shiny, prickly and narrow lanceolate needles are 14-16 mm long. Blue-black cones with a bluish coating reach 5-9 mm in diameter. They ripen in the second or third year.

Common juniper, resistant to frost and urban air pollution can grow on poor sandy loams. The shrub has about a hundred varieties, which differ in height, color of needles, shape and diameter of the crown. The most popular varieties are:

Pyramid tree native to North America can reach up to 10 m in height. Due to their resistance to adverse factors, rock junipers are in great demand in areas with hot climates. With their help, tall hedges and various coniferous compositions are created. The most unpretentious and known are two varieties:

Red cedar

This coniferous plant can rightfully be considered the most unpretentious and resistant among all types of junipers. In nature he grows along river banks and on windswept mountain slopes. Virginia juniper wood is resistant to rotting. In this regard, it is used to make pencils, and the plant itself is called the “pencil tree”. It is drought-resistant, frost-resistant and tolerates partial shade.

Varieties of this type of juniper are easily propagated by grafting, cuttings and seeds. Every year a large number of cones ripen on the tree, from which seeds can be obtained. After stratification, the seeds are sown in the ground and are an excellent planting material for creating a hedge. Most often used to decorate gardens and parks. seven varieties of juniper virginiana:

1. The Gray Owl variety is a shrub with silver-gray needles and gracefully drooping branches. Grows up to one and a half meters. The width of its crown reaches two meters. A large number of cones berries add additional decorativeness to the shrub. It tolerates pruning well, loves sunny areas, and is frost-resistant.
2. The Hetz variety is a plant with bluish needles that grows up to 2 meters. It can be 2-3 meters wide. Suitable only for large gardens as it quickly grows in width and height. Resistant to almost any weather conditions.
3. The Pendula variety is a spreading tree up to 15 m high. Its “weeping” branches are covered with green needles with a bluish tint.
4. 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 is overgrown with non-thorny needles of a green-blue hue.
5. 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, countless blue-gray cones are formed on the juniper.
6. The Glauca variety is a columnar-shaped tree up to 5 m high. It branches densely and is distinguished by its silvery colored needles.
7. The Blue Cloud variety is a dwarf form of juniper virginiana. 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 habit, characterized by good resistance to unfavorable growing conditions. The most popular varieties:

Chinese junipers: photos and varieties

Slow growing pyramidal trees, growing in China, Japan, Korea and the Primorsky Territory. Their height can reach up to 20 m, so bonsai are often formed from them. They love moist, fairly fertile soils. They tolerate drought well.

Some varieties of Chinese juniper are spreading bushes and are suitable for decorating small areas:

Cossack junipers

Most often this winter-hardy, creeping shrubs, which grow naturally in many areas of Asia and in the forests of Europe. They are often used to strengthen slopes because they are undemanding to the soil, light-loving and drought-resistant. Their varieties differ in needle color, habit and size:

Juniper horizontal

A North American plant species that can be used to decorate retaining walls and as a ground cover plant. The most popular varieties:

1. The Limeglow variety is a plant that grows up to only 0.4 m in height and grows up to one and a half meters wide. Its branches are strewn with beautiful, bright golden-yellow needles, which allows the shrub to be used as an accent for any composition in the garden. Does not grow well in heavy soils and prefers well-lit areas.
2. 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, creating the impression of a blue miniature forest. The color of juniper is especially bright and original in mid-summer.
3. The Blue Chip variety is one of the most beautiful creeping junipers. A bush with horizontal shoots spreading in different directions with slightly raised ends looks like a thick silver-blue carpet. In winter, the needles change color and become purple.
4. 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 creamy splashes in the summer, and purplish-violet needles in winter.

A drought-resistant plant with low soil fertility requirements, it grows naturally in China and on the slopes of the Eastern Himalayas. In landscape design, wide-spreading varieties with silver needles are used:

Nothing will clean and freshen the air in your garden quite like planting junipers in it. They will add their shapes and color to the garden comfort, beauty and originality. You can plant a huge tree, a tiny shrub, or make a composition from them. Any of the varieties and types of juniper will easily fit into the landscape design of a small summer cottage or large garden.

Juniper and its varieties and types

Scaly juniper is an ornamental shrub that belongs to the cypress family. This species is very diverse, there are more than 10 varieties. Thanks to this, it has become widely used in landscape design - you can choose a plant to suit any environment and design style of the site.

The homeland of the scaly juniper is the mountainous regions of the island of Taiwan, China, as well as the Eastern Himalayas. Despite the fact that this shrub has high decorative qualities, it is able to survive even in rather harsh conditions. Therefore, caring for it is not difficult even for novice gardeners.

Juniper varieties

Among the variety of varieties of this shrub, the following are of greatest interest to landscape designers:

• “Blue Star” (“Blue Star”);
• "Holger";
• "Meyeri."

Let's consider the features of these varieties of scaly juniper.

Meyeri

This variety was developed in China several decades ago. Its main feature is drooping young shoots. Due to its interesting appearance, it is often used both for landscaping parks and gardens, and for growing bonsai.

The plant acquires its best aesthetic characteristics during active shoot growth, which occurs in late spring - early summer. The needles of new branches have a silvery tint.

The growth rate is up to 10 cm per year, the size of the branches of an adult shrub is up to 3-5 meters. Therefore, Meyeri is considered the largest representative of this species.

Blue Star

The homeland of this variety is Holland. It was bred in the middle of the 20th century among Meyeri bushes. A distinctive feature of “Blue Star” is the absence of drooping young shoots and the characteristic star-shaped arrangement of needles.

This juniper has a dense crown, which is formed by densely spaced silvery shoots with a large number of branches. The variety is classified as dwarf; the height of the plant rarely exceeds one meter. The crown can reach a diameter of 2.5 meters. Growth is very slow - no more than five centimeters per year.

Holger

This variety is quite similar to Meyeri - it also has spreading branches with drooping shoots. However, despite the external similarities, there are also differences between these two varieties.

Representatives of the Holger variety have a height of no more than a meter, while the width of the bush most often reaches a diameter of about one and a half meters. This dwarf variety remains one of the most noticeable among other representatives of scaly juniper due to the bright yellow color of young shoots. Mature branches have the same silvery tint as Meyeri’s.

Thanks to these external features, Holger is perfect both as part of a group of plants and planted separately. This variety helps purify the surrounding air. Even in the presence of a large amount of impurities in the atmosphere, it is able to have a disinfecting effect on it.

In addition to these varieties, there are a large number of other plant varieties that are not as remarkable as those listed above: “Blue Carpet”, “Golden Flame”; "Dream Joy" and others.

Planting seedlings

Junipers are light-loving shrubs. Therefore, they should be planted in open areas of the garden. It is best to choose places with sandy loam or loamy light soil. It should be moderately moisturized and have sufficient nutrients.

In cases where the soil on the site is heavy and clayey, it is necessary to add a mixture of peat, garden soil and sand to it. This mixture may also include coniferous soil - soil that is collected from under coniferous plants in the forest and contains needles and other organic impurities.

Crumbs of white brick or sand should be poured down the planting hole. This makes it possible to create conditions for soil drainage. Despite the fact that the shrub can grow in fairly poor soils, excess moisture will lead to its death.

The optimal soil mixture for juniper is considered to be one that includes:

• two parts each of humus, turf soil and peat;
• one - sand.

You can also add 150 g of Kemira-universal fertilizer to this mixture, along with 300 g of nitrophoska. To increase the survival rate, you can sprinkle the growth regulator Epin under all seedlings.

Depending on the width of the root system of the shrub, the volume of the planting hole is selected. For example, for large varieties, you should dig holes measuring 60 by 80 cm. Planting should be done quickly to prevent the root system from drying out. Care must be taken when doing this, as the delicate roots of juniper are easily damaged. Immediately after planting, the plant should be watered generously and covered with material to protect it from direct sunlight.

The distance between the bushes is selected depending on the composition. Typically it is in the range from 0.5 to 2 meters. If the area is small, then it is better to choose small-sized varieties of juniper, which can be planted at a short distance from each other.

Growing from seeds

Those who decide to collect juniper seeds themselves should do this at the end of summer. In this case, they will not be fully mature, but germination is more likely. Planting should be done immediately after collecting the seeds. The first shoots will appear only after 2-3 years. This is due to the presence of a dense shell in the seeds.

It takes quite a lot of time to grow an adult shrub using this method. This method does not have any advantages over planting seedlings. Therefore, it is better to simply plant a juniper bush dug out in the forest. In order for it to quickly take root in a new place, it should be dug up with a large lump of earth in which a layer of humus remains. It is also necessary to remember how it was oriented in relation to the cardinal points, and plant it on the site in the same way.

Fertilizer use

If, before planting, the variety most adapted to the local climate was correctly selected, the shrub will grow well without the need to use large amounts of fertilizing.

During drought, it is enough to water it in the proper amount and add nitrogen fertilizers to it three times a season.

It is prohibited to use cow or poultry humus for fertilizer. When it is added to the soil, the roots of coniferous plants are damaged. You also need to avoid loosening the soil around the bush - since the root system is located on the surface of the soil, this will lead to its damage and the gradual death of the plant. Instead, it is better to mulch the soil annually with coniferous soil from the forest.

Winter care

Due to the fallen snow, the branches of the juniper may break, and the formed crowns may disintegrate. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to tie them in the fall. If the plant is sensitive to daily temperature changes, it should be covered with protective material in the winter-spring period.

This will also help prevent sunburn, due to which the crown acquires a yellowish tint and loses its decorative properties.

You should pay attention to juniper buds. If they remain healthy under the influence of frost, then young shoots will grow from them over time. If this does not happen, they should be treated with garden varnish, having previously been trimmed.

At the end of the summer period and in the spring, you need to water the juniper in a timely manner and apply the necessary fertilizing. It is also useful to spray its branches with a solution of microfertilizers. This will allow you to maintain the bright color of the needles even in winter.

To cover the bush in the cold season, you can use not only protective material, but also:

• snow - suitable for small-sized plants, creeping varieties. For shelter you just need to throw snow on the branches. Additionally, it is better to make a protective frame that will prevent damage to the bush during heavy snowfall;
• spruce branches - they are attached to the branches in the form of tiers from bottom to top;
• screen - allows you to protect the juniper from strong winds and bright light. Therefore, it is installed on the most brightly lit side of the planting.

As for covering materials, it is not recommended to use lutrasil, since the sun's rays pass through it. Also, cardboard boxes should not be used for this purpose. According to many gardeners, the best material for covering is considered to be metallized insulation, which is used when laying laminate flooring. In October, before the soil freezes, you need to drive pegs around the bush, and then wrap it with a substrate in December.

Pests and diseases

Juniper, even in unfavorable conditions for it, is rarely susceptible to various diseases. But, if under certain conditions the bush becomes sick, the cause is usually a fungal infection.

The most common diseases of juniper are:

• fusarium;
• juniper rust;
• drying out of branches;
• Alternaria blight;
• brown shutte.

To prevent diseases, you should follow the technique and conditions for planting shrubs, and choose high-quality planting material for this. It is also necessary, if damage appears on the branches, to cut them off and treat the wounds with a solution of 1% copper sulfate, cover them with garden varnish or oil paints.

To combat fungi, you can use the following products: Gamair, Alirin-B, Fitosporin-M. They should be diluted in water and the soil around the bush should be watered with the resulting solution. For treatment and prevention, you can spray the plant with a 0.2% solution of Fundazol.

Scaly juniper is a shrub that can be used to decorate any garden. Thanks to its unpretentiousness, even inexperienced gardeners can grow this plant. If all required preventive measures are observed, juniper will not be susceptible to pests and will retain its aesthetic properties.

Video review of juniper varieties

Homeland: mountains of China, Taiwan Island, Eastern Himalayas.

Very changeable appearance. Evergreen, dioecious, densely branched shrub up to 1.3 - 1.5 m tall. The bark is dark brown. The needles are lanceolate, very hard and sharp, 0.5 - 0.8 cm long, dark green on the underside and white on top due to stomatal stripes, arranged in whorls of 3. The cone berries are black, shiny, and ripen the following year in the spring, in May.

Juniperus squamata "Golden Flame"
Photo by Epictetus Vladimir

Known in culture since 1824. In St. Petersburg, the first to test it was I. R. Schroeder (1861) at the Imperial Forestry Institute “after the unusually severe winter of 1860-61” and was assigned by him to the “third section” of trees and shrubs easily damaged by frost . Subsequent experience has shown that this species can be grown here in open ground, but is generally interesting for cultivation southwest of St. Petersburg, in areas with milder winters. Slowly growing. Photophilous. Not very picky about soils. Grow in well-drained soil; it does not like drying out or especially excessive stagnant moisture. It can be a decoration for any garden or alpine hill in places with a suitable climate, with proper planting and care. Old dried needles remain on the shoots for several years, which reduces their decorative qualities. Despite this, it is one of the most decorative species with bluish needles.

Juniperus squamata "Blue Alps"
Photo by Kirill Tkachenko

The BIN Botanical Garden has been in use since 1940, and younger plants are now being grown. In St. Petersburg it freezes over, but can withstand harsh winters; It is of interest mainly as a collection plant. The Meyer variety (var. meyeri) turned out to be more stable here.

In GBS since 1947, 1 sample (4 copies) was received from Holland. Shrub, height 1.1 m at 22 years, crown diameter 120 cm. Vegetation from 12.V ± 10. Annual growth 0.5 cm, rarely 2-3 cm. Does not generate dust. Winter hardiness is average. The germination rate of seeds obtained from delectus is 24%. 60% of winter cuttings take root without treatment. Does not suffer from heat and dry air.

Known in culture since 1824. In terms of decorativeness it is not inferior to other low-growing junipers; there are many garden forms. The most popular are the following:

Var. bargesii . Tree 5-20 m tall, often with numerous trunks extending from the base. The bark is brown and peels off in long strips. The branches are straight and spreading; drooping branches. Needles up to 8 mm long, thin and prickly, pale or bluish green. The fruits are ovoid, 5-6 mm long, dark blue. Western China, 1907

"Golden flame". The shape is like that of "Meyeri" with yellow-variegated needles.

"Prostrata". Creeping shrub. All branches are horizontally spaced from each other. The needles, widely spaced from each other and slightly curved, are thin, with a thin blue-white stripe on top and a wide green edge, slightly keeled below. 1909

"Wilsonii". Straight shrub, up to 2 m high. The branches are short, compressed, bent back at the end. The needles are wider and shorter, about 4 mm long, dense. China, 1909

In the cold season, when all the flowers have fallen asleep and are waiting for new warmings, only conifers are able to bring bright colors to the gardens.

Evergreen and incredibly beautiful conifers are an unsurpassed decoration due to the variety of colors - from dark emerald to silver-gray and golden shades.

One of these is the scaly juniper, thanks to which the garden becomes attractive at any time of the year. Being highly decorative, it fits favorably into any landscape design. (Read about the features of using junipers in landscape design).

general description

Junipers are light-loving plants. For planting them, choose an open, well-lit area. The soil should be light, nutritious and sufficiently moist (loam, sandy loam), but places of possible stagnation of water should be avoided to avoid the death of the plant.

If the soil is clayey and heavy, you can use a special garden mixture of peat, sand, turf in a ratio of 2:1:2, adding mineral fertilizers. And at the bottom of the pit, a drainage layer of crushed stone or broken brick 15–20 cm thick is made.

The distance between bushes can be from 0.5 to 2 m and depends on the design of the landscape composition. The planting hole should be 2 times larger than the planting ball. Make sure that the root collar remains on the surface.

Expert advice: After planting, under each seedling, add the drug Epin (plant growth regulator) for its optimal survival rate and under no circumstances press down the soil around it, later it will settle down on its own.

The seedlings need abundant watering and protection from direct sunlight. Otherwise, the scales will simply burn.

Proper care

Juniper is an unpretentious plant. In dry weather, it is recommended to water the bush only 2-3 times per season, but regular spraying is very important.

Spraying should be carried out during a decline in solar activity - early in the morning or late evening to avoid burns.

Trimming shrubs depends on the type of plant and where it is grown. If you ultimately want to get a beautiful thick crown, you need to prune it abundantly. If you are satisfied with a crown of moderate density, a small haircut will be enough.

It is necessary to monitor the condition of the branches. If they are dry, just cut them off. But after weeding, you need to loosen the soil and cover it with mulch to maintain plant health.

In spring it should be fed with nitroammophos or complex mineral fertilizers. In October, potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are added. In winter, the bushes are sprinkled with a 10 cm layer of peat, and young plants are covered with spruce branches.

Varieties

Scaly juniper, due to its huge variety of colors, shapes and at the same time its unpretentiousness, is most often used for decorating landscapes.

Varieties of the scaly juniper species differ significantly in external characteristics, such as:

• dimensions taking into account further growth;
• crown shape;
• coloring;
• pine texture.

This should be taken into account when decorating. There are many known garden forms of juniper scaly. Let's look at the most popular of them.

Blue Star. Dwarf shrub. Suitable for creeping plantings. The crown is wide and resembles a lying hemisphere in appearance. The branches are dense.

The shoots are short. Young shoots have a bright turquoise color, over time their color changes to a calmer - dove-blue.

The crown grows slowly. Over the course of a year, it grows no more than 5 cm in height and 10 cm in width. By the age of 10, it reaches a height of no more than 0.5 m with a diameter of 2 m. The needles are scaly, silver-blue in color. Blue cone berries.

Loves sunny places. Grows in any soil, but does not like waterlogging and salinity. Tolerates frosts, winds and droughts well. It is the “star” of rocky, heather gardens and rock gardens. Looks great in small gardens, both in a group and alone. Often used for landscaping roofs, loggias, balconies and terraces.

Blue Carpet. Dwarf fast-growing creeping shrub. The crown is wide and flat. Drooping shoots. Over the course of a year, it gains no more than 3 cm in height and 5 cm in width. By the age of 10 it reaches 0.3-05.0 m in height with a diameter of 1.5 m.

The needles are short, with pointed ends and have a gray-blue color. The color of the cones is dark blue; a whitish waxy layer is visible on the surface of the fruit.

Loves sunny places, but also tolerates partial shade. Prefers fertile soils. Does not like stagnant water and salinity. Tolerates frost, gas and smoke well.

Used to create compositions in rocky gardens, on slopes, alpine hills, as well as on roofs and balconies. Due to its fast growth, it is often used as a ground cover.

Dream Joy. Dwarf shrub. The crown is flattened, cushion-shaped. The shoots are long, strongly branched, growing asymmetrically from the center of the bush, which can be corrected by pruning.

In spring, the color of the shoots is white-yellow, later changing to silver-green. Often their ends trail along the ground. Over the course of a year it grows 7 - 15 cm in height and 15 - 25 cm in width. By the age of 10 years, they reach 0.5 m in height with a diameter of 1 m.

The needles are small and thin, pointed at the ends. The color of the needles at a young age is golden-yellow, which over time gives way to gray-blue. Loves the sun. Unpretentious, but prefers acidic, alkaline soil. Frost-resistant.

Suitable for decorating rock gardens, heather gardens and coastal areas of reservoirs. Takes root well in container conditions.

Holger. Sprawling coniferous shrub. The crown is wide and dense. The branches are slightly raised in the center, drooping at the ends. The shoots are silver-blue.

Over the course of a year it grows 10 - 15 cm in height and 15 - 25 cm in width. By the age of 10 it reaches up to 1 m in height with a diameter of 1.5 m. The needles are short and stiff, with pointed ends.

The color of the needles is green with a white coating, and the ends of young shoots are golden. The cone berries are dark blue in color with a bluish tinge. They prefer slightly acidic loams. They don't like stagnant water.

Goes well with coniferous and deciduous dwarf plants. Used to decorate rock gardens, Japanese gardens, and retaining walls. It also gets along well in containers.

Meyeri. Large creeping shrub. The crown is asymmetrical, cup-shaped. The branches are raised high with many side shoots falling down.

Over the course of a year it grows 10 - 12 cm in height and 8 - 10 cm in width. By the age of 10 it reaches a height of 3 - 4 m with a diameter of 2 - 3 m. The silver-blue needles are very thick and prickly.

Prefers moderately fertile soils. Withstands urban climate. Regular trimming is recommended to achieve a tighter shape. Suitable for creating designer garden compositions and borders.

Scaly juniper, thanks to its wide variety of colors and shapes, in combination with other coniferous and deciduous plants allows you to create incredibly beautiful landscape compositions.

Watch the video in which a specialist explains in detail the features of growing Blue Carpet juniper:

Description

Meyeri's juniper (Juniperus squamata Meyeri) is a coniferous evergreen shrub beloved by gardeners and landscape designers. The popularity of the variety is due to the elegance of the crown and the original color of the needles: obliquely located branches with hanging silver-blue ends inspire people who are passionate about gardening to create unique landscape compositions. The shrub is especially beautiful during the period of active growth (late May - June). The growth rate is average (10 cm per year), the shoots are straight, the branches are short. An adult plant can reach 2-5m in height. The fruits are dark blue with a waxy coating of cones. Often used as a plant to create Bonsai.

Planting and caring for juniper scaly Meieri

It is better to plant juniper in sunny places, slight shading is allowed. The distance between planted plants is from 0.5 to 2 m, depending on the size. The planting hole should be 2-3 times larger than the earthen ball and up to 70 cm deep for adult plants. At the bottom of the hole, make a drainage layer of sand or broken brick about 20 cm thick. When planting, it is important that the root collar is not buried.

Junipers prefer soil with a slightly acidic to neutral reaction (see). The soil mixture is made in a 2:1:1 ratio from peat, sand and turf soil, respectively. After planting, the plant needs to be watered abundantly for a week.

In dry summers it needs to be watered. Junipers do not tolerate dry air well, so it is advisable to sprinkle regularly. Fertilizers are applied once a year in the spring at the end of April or in May (nitroammofoska, Kemira-universal, etc.). Young plants need shallow loosening.

For the winter, the plants are sprinkled with peat with a layer thickness of 10 cm, and the young plants are covered with spruce branches. Columnar varieties may suffer from heavy snowfalls, so in the fall the branches are pressed to the trunk with tape or rope (see,).