It is impossible to overstate the case for junipers in home plantings. No other group of plants so well sets off today’s modern low houses and fills the gardener’s need for an informal, unstudied effect.
And their soft and feathery look belies their rugged nature, which makes them just as useful in a windswept corner as in situations more protected and favorable to plant growth.
There are three major types from which to choose:
- Creeping kinds that hug the ground
- Medium and tall shrubs
- Trees, which deserve a special article and are not included here.
The Creeping Kinds
The creeping kinds are unexcelled for planting on steep slopes or in other locations where it is impractical to maintain grass.
They are fine accent plants for rock gardens and architectural planters and make exciting foreground specimens in shrub borders and foundation plantings.
The Shrub Junipers
The shrub junipers are splendid for screens and hedges (sheared or allowed to grow informally) and attractive in foundation plantings.
They may be grouped for mass effect or interspersed among other shrubs for form, texture, and color contrast.
Winter Color
Color, especially winter color, is reason enough to call on junipers to create good garden pictures.
Depending upon variety, there are those whose needle-like foliage is deep green, gray-green, blue-green, bronzy, or bright golden-green. And I hasten to add that the foliage of several acquires a striking pink or purple cast in winter.
Creeping Types
- Andorra juniper
- J. horizontalis plumosa
- Andorra, high in the Pyrenees. Its gray-green foliage turns a delightful pink in winter. Like the other creeping types, it does not exceed 12″ inches in height but may spread 4′ to 8′ feet in time.
Other creepers include:
- Sargent juniper
- Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii, of which selections with green or bluish-green foliage may be found
- Waukegan juniper
- Juniperus horizontalis’ Douglasii, whose green foliage turns gray-pink in winter
- Bar Harbor juniper
- Juniperus horizontalis Bar Harbor, a widely-grown variety that you will find delightfully attractive if you are partial to soft blue
- Japanese juniper
- Juniperus procumbens is characterized by wide-spreading growth and blue-green foliage that gives beautiful garden contrasts.
Low Shrub Types
- Graceful Pfitzer juniper, growing from 3 to 4 feet tall and spreading to 6 feet, has an open spreading form in contrast to most other garden plants.
- J. Chinensis pfitzeriana, some with dark green foliage, others gray- or blue-green. They thrive in the sun or shade, stand crowded, and city smoke and dust.
- Golden Pfitzer juniper is a selection of the variety. It approaches a clear, canary yellow in its new growth, which loses some bright colors as summer wears on and becomes nearly green in winter.
- Hill Japanese juniper
- J. procumbens nana, an extremely interesting and compact dwarf sort with rich blue-green foliage and the savin juniper
- J. Sabina, from Europe’s lower Alps and the Pyrenees, is noted for its distinct vase-like form and dense dark green foliage.
Medium Tall Junipers
- English juniper, a variety of J. communis, the common juniper, from 6’ to 10’ feet tall, the outstanding member of this group. Its deep green foliage turns dark blue-green in winter.
- Meyer juniper
- J. squamata meyeri, is an introduction from China with upright and bushy growth that displays a most distinctive color effect, combining tones of green, white, and pink
- Von Ehron juniper
- J. Sabina von Ehren is a fast-growing, deep, rich green variety from Germany with a graceful spreading habit.
For Pacific Coast and Gulf Coast gardeners, there are the following:
- Twisted juniper
- J. chinensis torulosa, with dark green foliage. It is very “sculptural” in effect.
Brief List
This brief list by no means exhausts the possibilities of junipers for home planting. But it represents what I consider to be the most desirable. Junipers may be grown almost anywhere in the country.
They all do best in full sun but perform well in full shade for part of a day or in filtered shade. They prefer light sandy soil but will live in gravelly soil or heavy clay, providing it does not become seriously water-logged.
Small plants attain good size in a couple of years. Set them out in early spring or in fall, the depth they grew in the nursery. Water regularly the first year whenever rain proves inadequate.
44659 by Oscar Keeling Moore