Juniper Mint Julep

Evergreen coniferous shrubs are among the popular ornamental crops, ubiquitous in Russia. Among them, various varieties of juniper are very popular, whose diversity allows you to choose the appropriate landscaping option even for small areas, as well as for gardens with complex relief. Due to their unpretentiousness and resistance to drought and frost, juniper bushes successfully take root in regions with a harsh climate.
The low-growing Chinese juniper Mint Julep stands out among its fellows with an unusual aroma, which, in addition to the usual smell of needles, has fresh mint notes. This sprawling variety belongs to hybrids and is the result of crossing the Chinese and Cossack varieties of juniper. This article will discuss the characteristics of the Mint Julep horizontal juniper variety, as well as how to properly care for it.

Juniper Mint Julep: photo

Medium juniper Mint Julep: variety description

The medium juniper Mint Julep is a hybrid of American origin, developed in the mid-20th century by plant breeders in New York State. This juniper variety owes its name to the famous alcoholic cocktail "Mint Julep" in the south of the USA, in which, in addition to ice cubes, bourbon and sweet syrup, mint leaves are added.

The exquisite aroma of the hybrid juniper shoots really evokes associations with a mint cocktail.
Juniper bushes "Mint Julep" are distinguished by their splendor and softness, their shoots in an arc incline to the ground, forming an angle of about 45 degrees. Scales of dense needles are colored in different shades of green - from light, emerald, to rich and dark. Small rounded fruits resemble blue cones, covered with a bluish bloom.

One of the distinctive features of the Mint Julep variety, inherited by him from one of his parents, a Cossack juniper, is the high content of poisonous essential oils in the tissues of all parts of the bush. These toxic, strong-smelling substances are extremely dangerous to humans and animals.

Like other junipers, mint julep is a dioecious shrub. You can distinguish male plants from female plants by the density of the crown (in the former, it is usually thicker), as well as by the color of the cones in the flowering phase: on male specimens they have a yellow tint, on female ones - light green.

Juniper variety "Mint Julep" has a number of advantages. These include the following qualities:

• resistance to severe frosts (up to -40 degrees) and drought;
• the ability to withstand sharp and significant temperature changes;
• the variety takes root in an urban environment with its gassed and dusty air;
• has a high growth rate relative to other varieties of juniper;
• can grow on soils of different composition;
• the average age of juniper bushes of this variety is about a century, which allows them to be attributed to long-livers.

Juniper Chinese Mint Julep: photo

Sizes of an adult plant of a juniper Mint Julep

Since the variety "Mint Julep" was obtained as a result of two completely different types of juniper, creeping Cossack and tall Chinese, as a result, it acquired an average height and width of the crown. At the age of 10 years, juniper bushes of this variety reach their maximum height and degree of spreading. Under favorable conditions and as a result of systematic care, some specimens can reach a height of 2 m, and the diameter of their crown sometimes equals 3.5 m. The relative compactness of the Mint Julep juniper bushes, combined with the amazing flexibility of fluffy shoots, make it possible to use them for figured landscaping of garden plots ...

Juniper Mint Julep in landscape design

Juniper Mint Julep in landscape design: photo

Despite the rather rapid growth of shoots, the Chinese juniper Mint Julep still grows rather slowly, therefore it does not cause much trouble to the owners of garden plots. After the shaping cut of the Mint Julep juniper, its crown retains its contours for a long time. These evergreen coniferous shrubs delight the eye with the green of their branches all year round, regardless of the season. Quite often, the Mint Julep variety is used to form standard bushes, as well as for the construction of figured compositions on frames.
Flexible and long shoots "Mint Julep" allow you to turn it into a creeping plant, fixing the branches at the surface of the earth. This method is especially often used in areas with difficult terrain, when you need to fix juniper bushes on a slope or slope.

In order to grow the Chinese juniper "Mint Julep" tall and strong, it is practiced to tie its shoots to a supporting structure. After a while, the flexible branches will get stronger and will constantly remain in an upright state. This versatility makes the Mint Julep variety a favorite of designers and gardeners, since it can be used to decorate gardens in a variety of styles. Mint Julep juniper bushes can equally well play the role of a bonsai tree, heather, a vertical accent, or an element of a flower garden or alpine slide. Their soft fluffy shoots can serve as a background for other plants, and can act as a compositional dominant.

The unpretentious nature and ability to survive in adverse conditions allows the use of the Mint Julep juniper for landscaping urban areas, creating green hedges along highways, purifying the air near health and educational institutions.

Juniper variety "Mint Julep" gets along well with other plant crops, be it other coniferous shrubs or trees, or deciduous or herbaceous plants. The combination of juniper with heather, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, erica, whose flowers stand out effectively against a green background, looks especially advantageous. The only exception is fruit and berry crops, the neighborhood with which is undesirable.

Medium Chinese juniper Mint Julep: planting and care

The Mint Julep variety will successfully take root on almost any soil. However, the best option for growing it is loose sandy loam and loamy soils. Despite its frost resistance, juniper belongs to light-loving crops, therefore, it is recommended to choose an area well-lit by the sun for its placement. In shade or partial shade, it will also survive without any problems, but its crown will lose its decorative qualities - it will become looser and dull.Drought does not threaten the health of these persistent coniferous shrubs, but excess moisture in the soil can lead to sad consequences - the root system will begin to rot, which can cause the death of the plant. In this regard, those areas where groundwater comes close to the surface of the earth should be avoided. Also, it will not be superfluous to drain the soil.

The preparatory stage of planting juniper seedlings in the ground

The quality of the planting material invariably affects the success of the entire event for the cultivation of juniper plantings. Seedlings should be purchased only from trustworthy, trusted producers. When examining a seedling, there should be no signs of rot, disease, mechanical damage - only strong and healthy plants will be able to transfer the stress from transplanting and take root in a new place. It is best to opt for seedlings whose root system is in a container with a nutrient substrate - the percentage of their survival rate is much higher than that of bushes with bare roots.

The most suitable time for transplanting Mint Julep seedlings into open ground is mid-April, after the ground has warmed up enough. Half a month before disembarkation, you should start preparing the landing recesses. Since it is better to replant young juniper bushes together with a lump of earth, the diameter of the planting pit should be two or three times its size. The optimum depth of the fossa is 0.6 m.

Before planting the bushes, the planting pits should be thoroughly drained, forming a layer about 10 cm thick. This can be done using expanded clay, brick fragments, gravel, pebbles. Coarse sand can be poured over this layer. You can prepare a nutritious soil mixture that will help the seedlings adapt in a new place and get the necessary supply of nutrients. To do this, it is enough to mix peat with turf soil and river sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1. During the time remaining before the planting of juniper bushes, the nutrient layer will have time to settle.

Juniper Mint Julep: transplanting an adult plant

Adult bushes of the medium juniper Mint Julep do not tolerate transplanting very well and can die due to stress, therefore, choosing a place for planting seedlings must be very careful. If several juniper bushes are planned to be placed on one site, their ability to grow should be taken into account. Therefore, an interval of 1.5-2 m should be observed between the planting pits. Step-by-step instructions for planting juniper seedlings include the following steps:

• A seedling is placed in a pre-prepared planting hole. In this case, it is extremely important not to violate the integrity of the earthen coma and not to damage the roots.
• The depression is filled with layers of nutritious soil mixture, which is gradually compacted. The root collar of a young juniper bush should be flush with the ground.
• Having tamped the earth tightly around the seedling, water it abundantly, for which settled warm water is used.
• After the water is completely absorbed into the soil, the near-stem radius should be loosened and mulched. Sawdust and needles are suitable as mulch. This procedure will preserve moisture in the soil and protect the root system of the seedlings from overheating and freezing, as well as prevent the germination of weeds.
• In the first week, seedlings need regular sprinkling with warm water, which is recommended in the evenings.

Irrigation and top dressing regime

Mature juniper bushes "Mint Julep" tolerate drought well, but weekly watering procedures will have a beneficial effect on their health and appearance. On average, one bush takes from 1 to 3 buckets of settled water. The best time to water is evening.Sprinkling will also not be superfluous, it is recommended to carry it out every 3-5 days, early in the morning or in the evening after sunset.

You can apply top dressing a year after planting a young juniper bush in open ground. This is done in spring with the help of complex dressings containing nitrogen and other nutrients. For the normal development of a young plant, it is enough to apply fertilizers once a season. The interval between fertilization for adult juniper bushes is 2 to 3 years.

Soil care procedures

The soil around the Mint Julep juniper bushes needs loosening and mulching. In springtime, after the snow melts, the old layer of mulch must be removed and burned, as it can be a source of infection with fungal infections. The soil around the trunk of the juniper must be thoroughly loosened and covered with fresh mulch. The loosening procedure should be repeated every time the rain passes or watering is carried out. The last loosening of the season occurs in autumn and should saturate the soil with oxygen necessary for the safe wintering of the juniper.

Juniper Crown Care Mint Julep

In order for the average Mint Julep juniper to retain its attractive appearance, it is necessary to carry out sanitary and cosmetic pruning in a timely manner.

In the spring, juniper bushes should be healed by removing from them all dry, rotten and damaged shoots, as well as those with signs of infection. The plant material remaining after cutting the juniper Mint Julep is necessarily burned, since it can serve as a source of infection.

It is possible to form the crown of the juniper "Mint Julep" throughout the summer, depending on the speed of regrowth of shoots that violate the contours of the crown.

By using formative pruning from a young juniper bush, you can create a bonsai-style tree. For these purposes, the lower shoots are removed, and the trunk is tightly wrapped with metal wire, after which it can be bent, giving the shrub the desired shape. The process of forming the trunk of a bonsai takes from 2 to 3 years, then the wire is removed and it is the turn of curly pruning of branches. Only very young junipers are suitable for this long procedure, since adult plants perceive any changes extremely negatively.

Preparing juniper "Mint Julep" for wintering

The hybrid variety "Mint Julep" is distinguished by a high degree of frost resistance. Adult plants survive the winter without shelter. But young bushes with non-lignified shoots may need protection. To begin with, you should mulch the near-stem radius, covering it with a layer of peat. Then you should tie the shoots of the bush and cover them with spruce branches. It is also recommended to tie the branches of adult juniper bushes - together it will be easier for them to withstand the weight of the snow cover without damage.

Growth rate of "Mint Julep" juniper

Compared to most of its counterparts, the Mint Julep juniper variety is a fairly fast-growing variety, whose annual growth in favorable conditions can be 10 cm or more. As a rule, it grows in height faster than its lateral shoots lengthen. The period of rapid growth lasts from April to August. In the conditions of the domestic middle zone, the Mint Julep juniper cannot boast of high growth rates and is almost no different from the slow-growing varieties.

Breeding methods for juniper "Mint Julep"

There are several ways to propagate the Mint Julep juniper. The most laborious is the method of seed reproduction, which is used mainly by breeders with special skills and knowledge. For amateur gardeners, there are two other methods that will give quick results without much effort.

The first way is grafting.In summer, cuttings about 0.1 m long are cut from strong shoots of an adult juniper bush. You should choose young, but healthy and strong shoots that do not have signs of disease and damage. The bases of the segments are soaked for an hour in a solution that stimulates the growth of roots, for example, in Kornevin. Then the cuttings are placed at an angle in containers filled with substrate and kept in greenhouse conditions until they have a full-fledged root system.

The method of layering involves strengthening the lower shoot of a juniper bush, cleared of needles and twigs, in the ground. After a year, it will fully take root and can be separated from the parent plant and transplanted separately.

Protection against diseases and pests

Juniper medium Mint Julep: photo

Like many junipers, the Mint Julep horizontal juniper variety is susceptible to fungal infections that can seriously damage their appearance and reduce their ornamental value. The most common diseases that threaten this juniper variety are pine needles rust and pine needles shedding (shute). As a result of infection, the needles lose their rich color, and the whole bush looks weak and inconspicuous. It is much easier to prevent the disease than to deal with its manifestations later. Therefore, it is recommended to take care of the protection of juniper plantings from fungal infections in advance by carrying out preventive treatment with fungicidal preparations.

Infections are often carried by harmful insects. Most often, the Mint Julep juniper is attacked by such pests as juniper aphid, sawfly beetle, juniper moth, needle mite, scale insect and all sorts of caterpillars. To combat them, you can use insecticidal preparations, remembering that they should be used strictly according to the instructions.

Changes in the color of the needles may have other reasons, for example, as a result of improper care of juniper bushes. A deficiency of useful trace elements and minerals, lack of a drainage layer, severe drought or excess moisture in the soil can lead to yellowing of the needles. In this regard, one should pay attention to the condition of the bushes in order to take timely measures to solve the problem that has arisen.

Finally

Juniper varieties "Mint Julep" combines a number of advantages that make it one of the most varieties of evergreen coniferous shrubs. The unpretentious nature is combined with high decorative qualities, allowing the use of plants of this variety for a variety of types of landscaping. Lush and soft shoots of Mint Julep perfectly keep their shape and can become a decoration of any area, regardless of the size of the Mint Julep juniper. Due to its flexibility, the juniper of this variety fits into almost any style solution. Following the necessary agrotechnical recommendations, it will not be difficult to grow it in your garden.