Juniper horizontal

Juniper Horizontal is a bush that spreads perfectly over the surface of the area on which it grows. In this case, the bush can form a very attractive and decorative coating. It is not uncommon for designers to include horizontal juniper among the plants that can beautify landscapes, and generally fit perfectly into landscape groups. Juniper combines well with many other plants, it perfectly complements the overall picture with its appearance, the plants next to it also take root well.

The horizontal juniper can be made the central accent of the entire site, and you can also close the near-stem part of the trees with it. So you can protect them from the attacks of various pests, which will also play an important role.

The horizontal juniper is ideally combined with some cereals, as well as with flowers of a wide variety of shades. In this article, we will talk in more detail about all the advantages of a horizontal creeping juniper bush, as well as indicate in what conditions it grows best, and what is required from the gardener himself in order to get a spectacular ephedra, which will decorate household plots and whole landscape compositions.

Description of juniper and its popular varieties

The horizontal creeping juniper is a species that, like many other juniper crops, belongs to the cypress family. This plant is undersized and evergreen, and it was bred by breeders from North America. Under natural conditions, juniper grows well near lakes, while adapting to sandy soils, which makes the plant even more resilient.

The height of the bushes is very small - it can vary from ten to fifty centimeters. But as for the shoots, they can grow to very long and creeping forms. They grow very densely, they can stretch from one and a half to two meters. Adult plants, even after many years, remain very stunted, so the juniper is often popularly called differently - flat. The annual growth of this juniper is very small - only about five to ten centimeters. This is how many branches grow in one year, and this figure is really very small. Fruits on bushes in the form of cones, have shades of dark blue or even closer to black. They are round, small, they contain seeds, with which you can then propagate junipers. The color of the needles can vary depending on which of the varieties the plant belongs to. It can be a green shade, or it can be a color closer to blue. Also, sometimes junipers can acquire a yellow color, but by the autumn period, the bushes can noticeably change. They become brownish, and this makes them even more decorative.

The advantage of flat juniper is that it can, in principle, adapt to absolutely any conditions, to any soil composition. At the same time, it becomes a decoration of the garden, in any landscape it can occupy an advantageous position, and this is really so.

Since the end of the 19th century, several dozen very interesting varieties of juniper have been bred by breeders. They are all united by the fact that they belong to a stunted species, spread over the soil, resembling a large coniferous carpet.Experienced gardeners also often use the standard method of growing junipers, they are grafted in this way and can also serve as a decorative support for many other compositions.

Blue chip

Blue Chip is a very unusual bluish dove-gray juniper that is a dwarf variety. It differs in that it grows very slowly, in height it can reach a maximum of thirty centimeters, no more. At the same time, the coverage of the crown can be five, or even six times greater than the growth of the juniper itself. The needles are very short, in the autumn they change their color: from blue-gray they turn into lilac or brownish-lilac needles, which looks incredibly attractive. The variety can ideally cope with excessive pollution or gas content in the air, emitting special substances that purify it. Also, the variety generally reacts normally to formative and sanitary pruning, bushes can grow in containers, they only need to be pruned periodically.

Andorra compact

Andorra compact - the height of the bush does not exceed forty centimeters. Growth is very slow, perhaps even slower than many other varieties. So, the plant gives an increase of a maximum of one centimeter per year, while it needs ideal conditions for its development. The bush is very compact, more like a pillow in shape, very dense. The needles are green in color with a slight ash tint. When autumn comes, the needles are transformed, acquiring a purple hue. The branches have a fairly even growth, so the bushes always look neat and well-groomed, even if the gardener himself did not take any special measures to take care of the plant. The bush also has a very regular shape.

Variegata

Variegata - the variety has very bright needles, which are distinguished by a rich green color. At the same time, there are some light creamy and yellow blotches in the crown, which make the bush even more attractive, interesting and decorative. The shrub is very variegated, its height can reach sixty centimeters, and this is much higher than the varieties that we have already considered before. This variety grows very quickly - the annual growth can be at least ten centimeters. In width, the bush grows 30 centimeters per year. In partial shade, the bush can lose its decorative features, it looks less bright. This variety can decorate a Japanese-style garden, it looks very attractive.

Wiltoni

Wiltoni is a very squat bush, its height is very small, about 20 centimeters. At the same time, the juniper usually grows to the sides by more than two meters. Wiltoni grows horizontally quickly enough. Shoots are short, raised slightly upward. The branches are particularly flexible, while, in principle, they fit very tightly to each other. They are distinguished by a delicate bluish-silver color. This variety is very decorative, sometimes gardeners replace grassy lawns with Wiltoni juniper. This also has some advantage of this variety that we cannot ignore.

Lime Glow

Lime Glow is another horizontal juniper that is also a dwarf. The variety got its name because it has a fairly bright lemon-yellow color of the needles. The height of the bush usually does not exceed forty centimeters, but as for the diameter of the crown, it is quite large - it exceeds about four times the height of the bush. The branches grow straight upward, slightly grasped at the ends, but make the plant even more decorative. With the onset of the autumn period, the yellow color gradually changes to bronze, and the bush still remains very decorative. Experienced gardeners recommend planting a bush in sunny areas so that the decorative color is not lost from this.This is indeed a problem for some, since if a bush is planted in a general composition, then not all plants in it can also perceive sunlight well. One way or another, this condition should be observed, then the plant will take root perfectly and will look just fine.

Juniper care (planting, transplanting, reproduction)

As a rule, no special efforts are required on the part of the gardener to care for the juniper. It can grow in soils of different composition - and in light, and in sandy, and in heavy soils, which are densely packed. But, one way or another, in dense soils, the bush may not feel comfortable enough, it may experience some depression, which will affect its decorative properties, so that nevertheless, it is necessary to treat the selection of soil with all attention and responsibility. Some varieties of junipers like to grow in fertile substrates, but they are also prone to growing in loamy soils, as well as in calcareous soils.

Illumination - here the juniper most of all prefers either partial shade or diffused sunlight. But on the other hand, sunlight is simply necessary for those junipers that are painted in yellow shades. If the required level of illumination is not observed, then the plant can acquire a standard green hue, due to which it will lose its decorative features that are prescribed for the variety by its characteristics.

The bush needs moderate moisture if we are talking about hot weather. This is especially true for young bushes. Top dressing is not recommended to be overused, but in the spring period you can apply a small amount of mineral fertilizers, they will perfectly saturate the soil and allow the plants to adapt after the winter period. Weeding should be carried out as the weed grows, but it is also not recommended to run the plots, otherwise the risk of the plant starting to get sick increases.

Mulching the bush space is one of the measures that is taken in order to stop the active growth of garbage weeds. We also note that the juniper tolerates frosts just fine. Therefore, these bushes are so in demand in order to grow them in the northern regions. You only need to cover them up to that moment. How they reach the age of two. After that, shelter is not necessary at all.

Bushes grow slowly, but even so, they can sprawl, build up their green mass. Therefore, for decorative purposes, the bushes must be trimmed periodically. With the onset of spring, every year it is necessary to remove branches that are damaged, dry or broken. You should also inspect the bushes for diseases, the affected branches must be removed and burned immediately so that the disease does not spread to other plants.

Young juniper seedlings are recommended to be purchased exclusively from specialized nurseries. There, the bush is checked for diseases, deformations, pests. The bush must be absolutely healthy and clean, this is the most basic condition. Acquire a tree with a lump of earth in which the root system is located, since the juniper has a tendency to take root for too long to new conditions, and with a lump of earth in which it has already rooted, it will feel much more comfortable.

Juniper planting is scheduled for the period from May to June. The same procedure can be done in the autumn, for this it is necessary to observe several important agrotechnical rules:

- a hole is dug, its depth should be from half a meter to 70 centimeters, no more and no less. At the bottom of the pit, the gardener lays out a drainage layer - this requires broken brick, expanded clay, pebbles. It is also necessary to lay a layer of river sand, it should be no more than 25 centimeters
- loose soil mixture is poured directly into the pit. To prepare it, it is required to mix the turf soil in equal proportions (special coniferous soil is also suitable), peat and sand
- the seedling is placed in the center, a clod of earth should be saved
- the root collar of a juniper seedling is located at ground level, then we sprinkle the plant with soil and pour it thoroughly with moisture right under the root. The space around the trunk can be mulched. For this, ideally, peat is suitable, as well as humus, wood shavings, sawdust or ordinary dried straw. This will allow you to retain a certain amount of moisture in the trunk circle, but prevent it from excessive waterlogging, which is very important.

The horizontal juniper can reproduce in two most common ways - by seed or cuttings. One way or another, gardeners do not propagate the plant with seeds so often, because the juniper grows very slowly, and this is its specific feature. Seeds are carefully selected and prepared in advance, get stronger within two to four years, and only then they can be placed in open ground. Agree, the process is really very long and, therefore, not always acceptable.

Cuttings are a common breeding method for junipers. For grafting, you can use semi-lignified branches that were collected from a juniper tree at the age of eight to ten years. The branches are cut from April to May, the length of the cutting should be about 11-12 centimeters. They must be very thoroughly cleaned and then placed in a solution that will stimulate the growth of the plant. The stalk is planted slightly at an angle; it is best to pick up sand as a planting material. The container is covered with polyethylene, the film is lifted every day and the plant is sprayed to create the most comfortable conditions for it. When the first shoots appear on the plant closer to the middle of summer (usually in July), this means that it is ready for the gardener to plant the juniper in open ground. In winter, it is best to cover the seedlings so that they do not freeze and do not become infected with any diseases.

Usually, horizontal juniper begins to hurt only when it experiences an excess of moisture. Also, the plant is negatively affected by shading, the accumulation of mineral salts directly in the soil. Mineral salts accumulate when the gardener improperly feeds the plant and, in principle, takes care of it incorrectly - hence such negative reactions to the surrounding phenomena and processes.

With diseases, you can see some changes in the plants themselves:
- uncharacteristic fungal mold appears
- the needles begin to turn painful yellow
- rust as one of the signs of diseases
- shoots begin to dry actively.
In this case, it is best to treat the plants with fungicidal preparations, Bordeaux liquid. If the plant is already infected, it is recommended to remove all infected painful shoots and quickly burn them, otherwise the disease will spread to still healthy plants. Also, it is impossible to allow the development of various parasites and insects - aphids, ticks and ants.

Thus, thanks to the simplest plant care measures, you can achieve excellent results, get excellent plants that will serve for decorative purposes, decorate your backyards, making them bright and unique.