Juniper blue

Blue junipers are considered the most beautiful and majestic of all the other varieties. Of course, in order to grow a really attractive and beautiful blue juniper bush, you should know some of the characteristics of the varieties, their characteristics and other features. This information will help the gardener achieve an excellent result, and, of course, decorate the site the way he wants. In this article, we will outline all the most important aspects that are just associated with the cultivation of blue juniper varieties, and talk about those varieties that are most popular and in demand among modern gardeners and modern landscape designers.

Introduction

Junipers - These are very popular evergreens that have needles, but at the same time belong to the cypress family. Today, junipers are considered one of the most popular plants that are used to create unsurpassed decorative landscaping. Gardeners who do not yet have experience in planting junipers note that they are afraid of the difficulties that may arise in growing junipers, in caring for them. In particular, they are alarmed, and to some extent scared off by the blue varieties of junipers, which look very decorative and unusual. It is believed that they generally need a special care approach, and it takes a lot of effort to get a great blue juniper bush.

In fact this is not true. Junipers may initially differ from each other not only in the size and shape of the crown, but also in different shades of the crown. Today, varieties are distinguished with green, light green, yellow, silver and blue needles. At the same time, the variety of shades does not mean at all that some bush should be looked after more carefully, and some bushes, on the contrary, are easier to care for.

Popular varieties of blue junipers

Of course, many gardeners ask questions about why blue junipers are so popular, and in this article we will answer this question. The thing is that blue needles - it really looks very attractive and unusual, if we talk about the design of landscapes and personal plots, flower beds. There are several more reasons for this popularity:

- blue junipers look very original, they can become an original decoration of absolutely any landscape composition, if you add some other cultures there. In addition, a juniper is a very standard plant, since, when decorating a flower bed in absolutely any form, you can inscribe a juniper into it, it will not make it worse, but only decorate it. The high decorativeness of blue junipers is exactly what sets them apart from other plant varieties.
- the juniper easily retains its decorative qualities throughout the year. In a snowy flower bed, the plant looks no worse than in a summer blooming flower bed. At the same time, in the fall, some junipers can change their color to brown, which makes them even more attractive and unusual.
- blue junipers are bushes that can be used in a wide variety of applications. In garden design, blue junipers are frequent guests, and they can also be found on personal plots, in the design of park areas and public places. Sometimes such junipers are simply exhibited to decorate an apartment, which also looks very unusual and decorative.

All this makes blue junipers incredibly versatile. This is undoubtedly a huge advantage over many other cultures. The bushes look great when decorating slopes, for creating hedges, in order to organize solitary plantings just on the lawn.

Also, blue junipers are frequent and, most importantly, welcome guests in decorating rock gardens and rockeries, they can be grown near artificial reservoirs and not at all afraid that the root system will feel uncomfortable.
There are several of the most sought-after and popular varieties of blue juniper, which today grow in various regions of our country.

Juniper Cossack and its varieties

Juniper Cossack is a juniper that has a very attractive blue crown. Moreover, this variety is one of the most popular among any other varieties of blue junipers. It includes more than twenty known species, and the best of them are such as:
— tamariscifolia
- rockery jam
- cupressifolia
- blue danub
These varieties are the most famous and attractive, as they are very easy to care for, and produce very beautiful juniper bushes that amaze the imagination. Tamariscifolia - this is a bush that reaches a height of about one meter, but the diameter of the crown is almost twice the height of the tree - it varies from 180 to 200 centimeters. The branches are not straight, but at an angle of 40 degrees. The coniferous crown differs in that it is very prickly, blue, some needles have a slight silvery. The shrub as a whole at any time of the year can have an interesting shiny shade, as if the needles were covered with frost. Such a bush looks great on rocky surfaces, and it can also be placed in rockeries, where light stones will be located.

Rockery jam - This is a small, almost dwarf juniper bush, which reaches a height of no more than half a meter. Moreover, its crown is very wide, spreading, can reach about five meters. The plant is creeping, looks great instead of lawn grass - very neat and, at the same time, very decorative. The needles have a blue-turquoise hue, which cannot but please the eyes of a gardener or landscape designer.

Cupressifolia Is also a juniper variety that belongs to dwarf crops. The height of the bush is no more than sixty centimeters. But at the same time, it is not as sprawling as the bush of the previous variety - Rockery jam. The crown is generally very compact. Its diameter does not exceed 2-2.5 meters. The needles have a bluish-green tint, they can slightly cast blue, which makes the bush even more attractive. The variety is usually grown in specialized rock gardens, as well as in order to form artificial reservoirs. In general, the plant is really very compact, neat, it is quite easy to care for it, like other varieties of blue juniper, but we will talk about this a little later.

Blue Danube - an evergreen juniper bush with a very lush crown. The height of the bush reaches sixty centimeters, the diameter of the crown is about three meters, no more. The branches at the ends are slightly raised, have a gray-blue color, like the needles. You can also notice a slightly bluish bloom on the needles, the plant looks very decorative. Berries that form on juniper bushes have the same bluish bloom. The length of the berries can reach more than one centimeter, they ripen regularly, every year. It should be remembered that the berries of this juniper are poisonous, so you need to be careful when picking them or in general when interacting with the berries. This bush belongs to the creeping species, it can withstand even the most severe frosts.As practice shows, the bush can not be covered even when the temperature drops to -40 degrees.

Ideally, this variety can be grown in sunny locations. It can be a great backdrop for all kinds of flower beds, as well as for creating a backdrop for attractive flower arrangements. The bush looks very organic in any area and in any designs and types (styles) of compositions.

Scaly juniper and its varieties

Scaly juniper Is another type of blue juniper. Basically, these varieties are used as cultivars. At the same time, the variety, in principle, is an excellent background for decorating decorative and deciduous compositions. The variety is very unpretentious, looks great, does not require special care and preventive measures. At the same time, the bushes are distinguished by incredible properties: the bushes secrete special substances that are able to cleanse even the most polluted areas. The most beautiful representatives of scaly junipers are Blue chip, Blue carpet, Blue old.
Blue Chip - a low-growing juniper bush, which reaches a height of no more than thirty centimeters. In this case, the shoots always grow horizontally, the needles are of a bluish hue. The bush looks as unusual and decorative as possible, it can be grown both in special rockeries and in rocky gardens. The bush is unpretentious to the composition of the soil, it should only be watered and periodically sprayed with settled water to refresh the crown.

Blue Carpet Is another well-known variation of the blue juniper, which is most often used by landscape designers to decorate alpine slides. The bush is quite miniature in height - it reaches its maximum only at a height of thirty centimeters, and the diameter of the beautiful blue crown is about one and a half meters. The crown has a flat shape, perfectly unraveling right above the ground, which creates the feeling of an unusual lawn grass. The variety as a whole is completely undemanding in terms of care measures; it can be grown in any climatic conditions. It should be noted that it is best to plant the plant in sunny and well-lit areas, or, otherwise, the crown will be completely faded, it will lose its decorative features, which will play a negative role in the life of the plant and, in principle, in its need for growth precisely on site for its registration.

Blue old - this variety is considered not only one of the most popular, but also one of the most favorite varieties of blue junipers. The fact is that the bush has a very attractive silver-blue crown, and it also grows very very slowly. The crown does not rise to a height above sixty centimeters, in one year the growth is no more than five centimeters. Thus, both for the growth of the plant and for the growth of the crown it takes a very long time, while even a small bush looks incredibly decorative and interesting. The plant is excellent for waterlogging of the soil, as well as for being located in well-lit areas. The variety is unpretentious to caring procedures, but it should be moistened with settled water, and the crown should be sprayed either early in the morning or late in the evening.

Horizontal junipers and their varieties

Horizontal junipers also have several varieties that have an excellent blue crown. Today, horizontal junipers are a whole species that includes more than sixty different plant varieties. They can be short, blue, creeping. Bushes are the real decoration of any personal plot, and they are also used to decorate parks, flower beds, rock gardens. At the same time, the bushes creep, so they can also become natural borders, they look very exotic and unusual.The best varieties of blue horizontal juniper include Wiltoni, Blue Forest, Bar Harbor and Ice Blue... From the name, you can immediately understand that these varieties are blue in color, but we need to dwell on the description of each variety in more detail in order to be imbued with the characteristics and features of the appearance of plants.
Wiltoni Is a horizontal bush that spreads instead of lawn grass. The height of the wiltoni does not exceed twenty centimeters, but the diameter of the bush is very large - more than two meters if it grows in the most favorable conditions for it. In fact, the variety was bred more than a hundred years ago, but so far it has not only lost its relevance and popularity - it is distributed in various regions, where it finds its fans and admirers. In fact, in place of the bush, a real beautiful bluish cover grows, which is an ideal addition to the design of personal plots.

Blue forest - a variety that differs from many of its counterparts primarily in that it has very dense and fairly compact needles. In this case, the branches are very short, as if glued to each other. The color is intense, bright blue, the bush can reach a height of half a meter, while it can be successfully formed, create any forms, it responds perfectly to such interventions. At the same time, the variety is also very unpretentious, and this also plays a very important role if we are talking about caring for bushes, since any plant needs standard procedures, and this bush only needs regular watering, spraying the crown in the morning or evening hours, and periodic formative pruning.

Bar harbor - the variety has a very dense crown, belongs to the creeping species of junipers. The height of the bush varies from 25 to 30 centimeters, the bush itself has a blue-gray color, but as soon as the first serious frosts come, the color of the juniper changes - the bush becomes purple, it attracts the views of gardeners and designers who are engaged in landscape design. The same applies to the variety. Ice blue... The bush is perennial, evergreen, looks very exotic in the areas and in design, it can change its shade from light blue to dark plum, it looks really very unusual, especially when it snows.

Blue Juniper Care

We have listed the varieties and varieties of blue junipers. Now it is necessary to consider in more detail how to properly care for a blue juniper, so that an excellent result is obtained, and so that the plant retains its decorative properties. If a gardener or landscape designer has decided that he would like to grow a blue juniper on the site, then it is worth starting with the fact that the purchased seedlings must be of the highest quality. For this, the seedling is very carefully inspected from all sides for any damage. The bush must be healthy, there must be absolutely no damage to the root system, twigs. There should be no wounds or damage on the trunk, side branches should hold tightly to the trunk, should not fall off or break off, and the color of the needles should be uniform. At the same time, the root system should grow tightly into the soil ball, so it will be much easier to transplant the plant into open ground and, most importantly, it will take root faster and more successfully in the new conditions of open ground.

It is best to plant a bush in a warm area where sunlight is constantly present. In this way, the plant will retain its decorative characteristics. In the shade, a juniper can also grow, but there is a high probability that in the shade it will be weaker, lose its bright decorative qualities, and become less bright and attractive.If at the same time on the site the gardener plants several juniper bushes at once, then it is best to keep a distance of half a meter or even more between them. In exceptional cases, bushes can be planted densely. For example, when a gardener wants to make a dense hedge out of a tall juniper.

Blue junipers are planted in holes to a depth of 40 to 60 centimeters. In this case, it is best to prepare the hole in advance - lay a mixture on its bottom, where river sand, peat or sod is contained in equal proportions. It is also best to equip a drainage layer under the ground layer - ideally, broken brick or expanded clay, which can be purchased at any hardware store, is suitable for this. Plants must be planted very carefully so as not to damage the earthy clod that surrounds the root system. After planting, the plant is watered once, but very abundantly, using warm, settled water for this.

As a rule, all the features of growing blue junipers are reduced only to the fact that the juniper has its own specific characteristics of the root system. It is horizontal, located quite close to the soil surface. So it is necessary to loosen and cultivate the land very carefully. All weeds should be removed from the site in time. It is possible not to loosen the soil, but at the same time mulch it. As a mulch, a circle is used, which is made from a mixture of sawdust and peat. In the spring, the juniper must be protected from sunburn, but in the winter, with very strong frosts, some varieties are recommended to be insulated. In general, if you follow all these conditions, you can get a very high-quality and beautiful plant that will decorate not only flower beds, but even an apartment.

The plant does not need any special care, it is as versatile as any other coniferous plant. Blue junipers look great on home gardens, in various flower arrangements. Creeping junipers can hide any imperfections of the site, turn it into a real work of art. It is important that the plant grows in a sunny area so that it is constantly hydrated. The shrub will become a real decoration for a garden, terrace, balcony, apartment, garden plot. An evergreen plant pleases the gardener both in summer and in winter, and junipers, which change their shade for the winter, are a separate masterpiece that is very much appreciated by gardeners.