Have you decided to build your own alpine slide or decorate a garden plot in an original way? Create comfortable conditions for the juniper, which gives its owner not only a good mood, but also healing phytoncides that strengthen the nerves and help overcome the everyday anxiety of our hectic time.
Juniper, a fragrant evergreen long-liver (500-2500 years) of the Cypress family, has recently become an ornament to household plots, a striking element of landscape decor. There are more than 70 species of this unpretentious winter-hardy plant, which has a powerful root system, a height of up to 10 m and a growth area from northern latitudes to the tropics. Juniper leaves, depending on the species, are scaly or needle-shaped, and their color is blue, gray, yellowish and all shades of green, which allows you to create picturesque, multi-level, multi-colored compositions on the site.
Here are some juniper species that have a “fashionable” exterior for your note:
- Red cedar (pencil tree)- slender, upright shrub/small tree 7-12 m tall and 4-6 m wide. The first years the plant is compact and conical, then it becomes wide, asymmetrical and openwork. The branches are bent up. The needles are scaly, needle-shaped dark or gray-green in the shade, dark red in winter. It grows only in the sun, tolerates large temperature fluctuations, is winter-hardy and wind-resistant. Suitable for topiary haircut.
- Juniper horizontal (prostrate ) - an open dwarf shrub 0.2-0.3 m tall and 1.5-2 m wide with creeping shoots. The needles are scaly, color - from green to metallic blue, in winter it acquires a raspberry or dark red hue. It grows in the sun and in partial shade, tolerates large temperature fluctuations, is winter-hardy and wind-resistant.
- Juniper medium - vertically growing, asymmetric shrub 2-5 m high and 3-6 m wide. Branches form layers, lateral shoots are often raised. The needles are scaly, the color is from dull gray to blue-green, in the shade or after trimming the needles become needle-shaped. It grows quickly in the sun and in partial shade, tolerates large temperature fluctuations, is wind-resistant, winter-hardy. It tolerates simple and topiary haircuts well.
- Juniper hard - a columnar tree native to Japan up to 8 m tall with stiff, sharp, yellow-green needles. Very photophilous, undemanding to soil fertility. Males are especially beautiful as a tapeworm.
- juniper chinensis - large shrub / tree. The branches have both scaly and needle-shaped needles of green, bluish or gray color, in the shade or with strong pruning becoming needle-shaped. Grows only in the sun, thins even in light shade. It is frost-resistant, takes root well, but does not tolerate dry air. In Central Russia, it replaces cypresses.
- Juniper Dahurian - creeping shrub with ascending branches. The needles are needle-shaped, sharp, in good light - scaly, after frost it becomes brownish. Photophilous, tolerates light shading, drought-resistant. Suitable for slopes, slopes and rock gardens.
Juniper cultivars most commonly used for garden and home decor include:
"anna maria", "bruns", "depressa aurea", "horstmann", "hibernica", "compressa", "green carpet", "old gold", "gold star", "mint julep", "skyrocket", "andorra compacta", "blue star", "blue arrow", "blue chip".
Seedling selection
It is best to purchase a seedling in a nursery, where you can choose the variety and specimen you like, as well as get advice on caring for the juniper and its neighbors. When buying a juniper, pay attention that its root system is developed and occupies the entire volume of the planting capacity (it is desirable that the seedling is in a solid "dishes" and not bags where the root system is easily damaged). Ask the seller to take the plant out of the pot and show you its roots - they should be white, fresh and smell good. The needles of a healthy candidate for planting are lush, without yellowness, rich green in color, the twigs are not dry, and the optimal age is 3-4 years.
Place
Juniper is a light-loving plant that loves space, so it is desirable that its crown be in the sun for most of the day, otherwise the plant will lose its splendor. Loose breathing soil for juniper (pH = 4.5-7) can be “designed” independently by mixing soddy soil and sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1. And you can not bother and buy ready-made soil PETER PEAT "Garden soil" of the HOBBY line, which will reduce the number of weeds and the percentage of possible plant diseases.
Choose places for planting juniper with a low level of groundwater to prevent root rot.
Planting juniper seedlings
Horizontal juniper is planted from April to the second decade of May (if autumn is dry, then in late August - early September) and includes a number of simple rules:
- The depth of the planting hole should be twice the height of the seedling and be at least 70-80 cm, and its width should be 2.5 times the root ball of the seedling earth. At the bottom of the pit, a 10 cm drainage layer of crushed stone, gravel or coarse expanded clay PETER PEAT of the VITA line is laid. Then comes a sandy layer 20 cm thick, and from above to the ground level - a soil mixture of soddy soil, sand and soil PETER PEAT "Garden soil" of the HOBBY line (1: 1: 2). If the soil in your area is heavy, lime it with dolomite flour at the rate of 500-600 g/sq.m.
- Before planting, to prevent diseases, immerse the root part of the seedling for 2 hours in a 3% aqueous solution of potassium permanganate.
- When the planting hole is half full of the required "ingredients", pour a bucket of water into it; after planting a seedling / adult plant, shed two more, this will insure you against the risk of underwatering and drying out of the roots.
- Plant the plant along with a clod of earth, after thoroughly spilling the pot with water. Try not to damage the roots and root ball of the earth. When planting, the root neck of young seedlings is flush with the ground, young seedlings - 2-3 cm, and in adult junipers - 10 cm above ground level.
- Between adjacent young junipers there should be a distance of 0.6-1 m, between large ones - 1.5-2.5 m. It is necessary to calculate so that the distance between adults is 1.5-4 m, taking into account overgrown crowns.
- Mulch your plantings with a 5-8 cm layer of sawdust, withered foliage, DECO line PETER PEAT pine bark or special artificial material.
juniper transplant
This is an extremely undesirable and painful procedure for the juniper, so it is better not to be mistaken with the place of its initial landing. But once you have decided, take care of landscaping the “correct pit” (see Landing) and establishing comfortable soil by mixing coniferous soil, peat, sand in equal proportions of snitroammophos (30-40 g / sq.m). Pour a bucket of water over the half-filled hole and again pour 2 more buckets after the final settlement of the juniper in a new place. 2 days after transplanting, feed the plant with liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT "Living force: resistance to stress".
Transplanting juniper from the forest
You can dig up a juniper tree in a coniferous forest, guided by the following parameters: the height is not more than 50 cm, the trunk is straight, all the needles are green, there are no dry twigs. At 0.5 m around the trunk, dig up the ground and pull out the plant along with the lump, carefully cutting off the roots and trying to leave them as long as possible. Place the seedling in a bag and, in no case destroying the lump, take it to the site, to the prepared pit. You need to plant a juniper, clearly repeating its forest orientation to the cardinal points: for this, even in the forest, mark the “notch” side of the earthen clod with a stick or simply tie a thread.
Juniper nutrition
In April, feed your juniper with mineral fertilizer PETER PEAT "NPK 15-15-15" of the MINERAL line. In the future, water it monthly with PETER PEAT liquid humic fertilizer "Live force: for coniferous crops", combining fertilizer with watering and slightly loosening the near-stem circle beforehand. But if the plant is growing well, do fertilizing in a month. Alternative fertilizers:
- nitroammophoska (30 - 40 g per 1 m²);
- "Kemira Universal" (20 g per 10 liters of water).
Juniper propagation
Seeds. Not all varieties of juniper can be grown from seed - hybrid varieties (labeled f1) do not produce offspring in this way. Pollination of the plant in a natural way provides too little planting material, and it can be collected from two-year-old and older junipers strictly during the darkening of the berries, but not later. Next, prostratify the collected seeds: put a layer of sand and moss in a box of 20x30x30 cm; juniper seeds on it with a thin layer; top layer similar to the first. The box should stay outside all winter and the first half of spring. This will speed up the germination of seeds, because. seeds that have not undergone such a procedure will be able to sprout only after a year. In May, soak juniper seeds for 30 minutes in a 3% solution of potassium permanganate, then 2 hours in PETER PEAT liquid humic fertilizer and plant in prepared beds (see Planting section) according to a 50x80 cm scheme, followed by watering, weeding, loosening row spacing.
Cuttings with a "heel". In early spring, early in the morning in cloudy weather, cut branches 12 cm long from an adult juniper so that they have "heels" - 2-3 cm pieces of the trunk. Remove the needles from them and place for a day in a solution of liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT "Living force: for soaking seeds", stimulating root formation. Next, dip the juniper cuttings 3 cm into pots with a diameter of 15 cm with a substrate of sand, garden soil and peat (1: 1: 1), pour and cover with a film. Rooting temperature +22-28°C, humidity of the upper part of the cuttings 90%. Put the pots on the windowsill, to the light. Remember, the soil should always be moist, but overflowing is fraught with rotting of the roots. Remove the film every 5 hours to allow the cuttings to breathe and check the moisture content of the substrate. After 30-50 days, the plantings will have roots, after another 2 months they can be transplanted into pots, and in a permanent place - after 2-3 years.
In a greenhouse. Prepare a hole 25 cm deep in the garden, lay a drainage of expanded clay or fine gravel 5 cm thick on the bottom, and a soil mixture of sand and peat (1: 1) on top. Above the resulting bed, install arcs 25-30 cm high and cover them with a thick film. Pour water properly and deepen the cuttings into it by 3 cm in increments of 40-50 cm. Do not forget to ventilate every 5 hours, and in sunny weather, remove the film.
juniper care
In the first year after planting, the soil under the juniper must be carefully loosened so as not to damage its root system. A little peat or PETER PEAT pine nut shells from the DECO line can be added to the soil. From above, the trunk circle can be mulched with sawdust or dry leaves.
Juniper watering
Juniper is able to do without water for a long time, but you still need to water it once a month: 15-25 liters of water should fall on one plant. In hot summers, he loves a weekly water shower from a watering can or spray bottle - this procedure is best done in the early morning or evening. If the summer is rainy, a shower once every 3 weeks is enough. Water the young seedlings along the edge of the hole once a week.
Pruning. Juniper "in life" does not need pruning, you just need to remove the dry branches that have appeared. But when forming the crown, “unnecessary” healthy branches can also be cut off, only a little, because. the plant can get sick.
Shelter. To protect the juniper from breaking due to heavy snowfalls, tie its branches with twine and periodically shake snow off them. It is useful to cover young individuals with spruce branches or aspargan. Before winter, be sure to mulch the near-trunk circles of plants with peat or sawdust to a thickness of 8-10 cm.
In spring, the sun mercilessly burns out the juniper needles, so do not remove the covering material immediately “forever” - let the juniper gradually get used to the light, increasing its daily exposure time by 15-20 minutes. As soon as the snow comes off the trunk circle, remove the old layer of mulch, dig the soil 5-8 cm, level it and make a new layer of mulch.
Diseases and pests
Stylish juniper plantations to you!
Juniper belongs to the genus of cypress evergreens. They are quite unpretentious to the soil and do not require careful care. But in order for the juniper to grow healthy and please the eye, it is still necessary to perform a number of procedures.
plant care
To provide favorable conditions for the growth and development of juniper, it is necessary to follow special rules for caring for it. Required:
- Watering. Juniper does not require a lot of water. Even in hot weather, one watering per month is enough. It is recommended to give the plant a “shower” once a week by spraying water on it. It is best to do this in the early morning or late evening to prevent damage to wet needles by active sunlight;
- Pruning. In addition to the systematic removal of dried branches, the plant does not need pruning. If desired, you can give an individual shape to the bush, but this should be done carefully, without stopping many branches at a time, as the plant can get sick;
- Care in winter and spring. In order to prevent freezing (if the juniper grows in cold areas), the juniper is covered with a cloth, and young seedlings are sprinkled with sawdust or straw. If the plant was not covered for the winter period, then this must be done with the beginning of spring, when the intensity of solar activity intensifies. This will help prevent the danger of getting burned due to exposure to sunlight, from which it is difficult to recover. After the snow melts, the plant is freed from the covering material, then it is carefully examined, protective mulch is removed around the trunk - this will help protect the root trunk and roots from decay.
Note! Another important component of juniper care is top dressing. This is a necessary procedure, especially for transplanted, young plants, as they are still weak and susceptible to all kinds of diseases.
Feeding is also necessary if the soil at the planting site is poor. This process must be carried out throughout the season. The beginning of top dressing should begin after a month after disembarkation, adding nutrients in small quantities.
Soil Requirements
Before planting a juniper, it is necessary to carefully study the composition of the soil on the site. This is due to the fact that each type of plant has an individual need for soil. For example, Cossack, Central Asian and common juniper require soil with an alkaline composition for favorable life. For other species, an acidic environment is more suitable. To create it, add peat, sand or mulch using sawdust or wood shavings. To create an alkaline environment, dolomite flour or slaked lime is used.
It is also important to create natural air exchange (aeration) for the root system. For this, drainage is necessarily introduced: broken brick, river pebbles, large-sized expanded clay.
There is a recipe for preparing a universal soil composition suitable for all types. It is necessary to mix peat, river sand and soil from coniferous forests in proportions of 1:1:1. Be sure to mulch with wood shavings or peat, sprinkling them near the base of the trunk.
Important! After planting any of the juniper species, it is watered with a large volume of water. Then, in order to protect, mulching is done around the trunk of the plant. The material is pine nut shell, peat, sawdust, pine bark, crushed cones. The thickness of the pillow varies from 5 to 10 cm.
Fertilizers and top dressings
While the juniper bush is still young, it requires annual fertilization. It is allowed to start fertilizing the plant only in the second year after planting. If this is an adult representative of cypress, then it is necessary to feed it 1 time in 2-3 years. In the form of a fertilizer material, superphosphate, rotted manure, ammonium nitrate and other mineral fertilizers can act.
The best time to apply nutrients is from late April to early June (the bud swell period). Fertilizers should be applied to the ground around the plant, retreating from the trunk 15 cm, to a depth of 10 cm. After fertilizing, water the plant with water.
In the summer, it is necessary to feed the juniper with special compounds and substances that are useful for coniferous representatives. They must include the following elements:
- copper;
- manganese;
- iron;
- potassium;
- phosphorus;
- zinc.
Such elements enrich the juniper with essential substances that favorably affect the color saturation of the needles, strengthen the plant's immunity and increase resistance to weather conditions.
When choosing a fertilizer for feeding shrubs in the autumn, preference should be given to mixtures in which nitrogen is present in minimal quantities. This is due to the fact that the specified component reduces the ability of juniper to tolerate low temperatures. This is due to the active growth of shoots that do not have time to become woody by the onset of cold weather, as a result of which they freeze out. Also at this time of year, the plant needs magnesium to prevent yellowing of the top.
Organic, liquid fertilizers based on biohumus dissolved in water are favorably perceived by juniper. Such top dressing can stimulate root growth, and also activates photosynthesis.
Conclusion
Proper care of the juniper will help not only extend the life of the plant, but also preserve its natural beauty, which will delight the owner for many years. An integral part of caring for this shrub is the application of fertilizers to the soil, which strengthen the immunity of the plant and its root system, and ensure its healthy appearance.
A modern way to plant trees on the territory, to give it a noble, well-groomed appearance is the planting of juniper. It is a close relative of the cypress, but grows in harsher conditions. Different types and varieties (about 15 items: dwarf, giant, upright, spreading) will help the designer create a real masterpiece on the site. Juniper, the planting and care of which will be described in the article, has various shades of green, gray. Depending on the period of the season, the crown of the needles changes color to a bronze color.
When planting juniper
Planting time can be selected in spring and autumn. Juniper will feel good in the open field in April, May, October, but a place for it should be chosen without completely darkening the plant, it can only be partially. Indicators of hydrogen in the soil should be in the range of 4.5-7 units. considering the variety.
On a note! Designers love juniper for its unpretentiousness to soil and climate. It can grow even on heavy loams and sandy soils, except in wetlands. In winter, he does not need shelter, unless we are talking about young cuttings.
The question of how to plant a juniper in the spring should also include a study of the soil in order to exclude the death of the plant.
Where to plant a plant
Juniper loves direct sunlight, so it is principally planted in open areas. Otherwise, the shadow will lead to the loss of a bright, saturated color of the needles, degenerative crown formation. Only a slight lack of sun can endure only one variety - common juniper.
A feature of all species is the development of a long, voluminous root system, so even slopes, unstable soils that need to be strengthened can be a landing site.
Important! Juniper does not like long-term soaking, so planting in lowlands and marshy areas is not recommended.
If the question is: what to plant next to the juniper, then you should avoid the neighborhood with mountain ash, hawthorn and apple trees, which can be carriers of fungi that affect the crowns of plants.
How to plant a plant at home correctly? The main rule is to maintain certain parameters:
- from 1.5 to 2 m apart;
- pit dimensions for a small seedling - 50 × 50 × 50 cm, large from 70 × 70 × 70 cm.
The preparation of the pit begins 2 weeks in advance, forming a pillow from the following layers:
- drainage (finely broken brick + sand) up to 20 cm thick;
- nutrient soil with top dressing - 1 part of soddy clay soil + 1 part of sand + 2 parts + 250 g of nitroammophos.
It is necessary to take into account the peculiarity of each type of juniper. Growing a virgin specimen will not be successful unless 5 kg of compost and 5 kg of clay are added to the base mixture (with poor, sandy soil). In the case of Cossack juniper, up to 300 g of dolomite flour is mixed into the soil.
After 2 weeks, when the soil shrinks, you should start planting a seedling. It is placed in a prepared pit and covered with the same soil composition as in the pit, excluding top dressing.
Important! Before planting a juniper in a country house or in another area, you should remember the correct location of the root collar in the pit. For small seedlings, location at ground level is allowed, for large ones - up to 10 cm above ground level.
After planting, the plant is watered abundantly, and after shrinkage of the earth, it is mulched with a small (up to 8 cm) layer of a mixture of sawdust and peat.
Planting seedlings
The main conditions for the speedy survival of seedlings are:
- 3-4 years of age;
- the container where the plant grew (up to 5 l);
- no signs of any disease;
- maintaining the integrity of the earthy coma on the roots to prevent damage to the root system;
- established garden center.
Planting of seedlings is carried out at any time of its growing season, except for very hot days. First, the root system is lowered into the water for 2 hours, you can add a little potassium permanganate. If the young plant has open roots, then planting in the spring, at the end of summer, is recommended, while the soil should be moist. For the development of healthy roots, a root formation stimulator is used.
If you follow all the points when choosing, then the seedling will quickly get used to the soil, and additional aids for transplanting will not need to be used.
Planting seeds is a complex process that requires some experience. A feature of the coniferous plant is low germination. You may be lucky and the plant will sprout, but it will be difficult to maintain it.
With patience and some botanical knowledge, it is possible. Planting is carried out in the fall, in a pot, which is taken out in the winter to an open area for 4 months (ignoring the weather).
The dead seeds are thrown away, and the surviving ones are planted again in a pot in May, still leaving them on the street. Shooting can be expected only next year.
Important! Regardless of the species, juniper grows very slowly, and in order to speed up the germination process, fertilizers are added, and they also provide a favorable regime - sun, soil moisture.
How to grow juniper from cuttings
The question arose, how to plant a cutting? The best option would be a small pot with earthen mixture (1 part peat + 1 part sand + 0.25 parts sod land).
From a coniferous tree that has reached 10 years of age, a one-year-old cutting about 12 cm long is cut along with the wood. In a jar of water, a mixture is diluted to stimulate growth and a branch is lowered into it to a depth of up to 3 cm. If the cutting was cut without wood, then you need to watch the top so as not to put this particular side into the water.
Important! Before propagating juniper from a branch, its appearance should be taken into account. A creeping plant is lowered into a jar with a growth solution at an angle of 60 °, and columnar plants are placed vertically.
Common juniper lends itself to propagation through cuttings much better (90%) than other species. If the root system is actively developing, then you can transplant the plant into a separate pot. The only condition is transplanting into open ground in at least 2 years.
How to fertilize and feed seedlings and young plants
The soil for juniper should consist of a mixture of nutrients and fertilizers, only if this condition is met, growth will be active and the plant will be resistant to pathogens of various diseases.
Important! When choosing a seedling, you should pay attention to its ability to grow. The needles should not be dry, not have damage and signs of disease (mold, fungus), and an earthen lump should be present on the roots.
How to properly feed? In the spring, mineral fertilizers are applied: superphosphate or nitroammophos. If the juniper was propagated by cuttings or young planting material from the nursery was planted in the ground, then the improvement of soil properties is carried out every spring, summer (with obvious signs of poor growth and lack of minerals).
By the state of the shoots, you can determine the excess or deficiency of the microelement:
- yellowing of the needles indicates a magnesium deficiency;
- crown deformation, death - a large amount of nitrogen. It is found in organic fertilizers (manure).
Growing young planting material is impossible without fertilizer. You should also consider what kind of soil the juniper likes. By following these recommendations, you can grow a lush, healthy plant, with juicy needles.
Top dressing of an adult plant
It is possible to grow an adult tree without fertilizers, but foliar top dressing is used for rich color and crown splendor. In dry summers and before the predicted frosts in autumn, the juniper is watered abundantly, which is necessary for the accumulation of moisture.
Transplanting juniper from the forest
How to transplant juniper from the forest to the site? The best time to move is early spring, when the snow has not completely melted yet. The following recommendations should be followed:
- Before transplanting into the garden, still in the forest, you need to tie the sunny side of the plant with a ribbon and plant it in the same orientation.
- Dig only with the "mother" earthen clod on the root system. If it is not lifting, then it is allowed to comb it vertically with a shovel, reducing the depth.
- Put an earthen ball with a tree on polyethylene and wrap it up for transportation. This will keep moisture in.
- Landing should be carried out in a single or trench way, avoiding placement near buildings (sliding snow in winter can damage the crowns).
- The size of the pit should be slightly larger than an earthen clod (they provide for the placement of a soil mixture of peat, compost, sand), shallow so that the root collar does not fall below the ground level.
- The roots are straightened in a pit and covered with earth and coniferous litter (sawdust).
- Form a bowl for watering and pour 2 buckets of water to compact the soil.
Reproduction of a tree and its survival in a new place depends on the degree of care for it. It is especially important to pay attention to the plant in the first six months, until the root system is fully established in the soil. To limit growth, juniper pruning is recommended in early May.
No wonder gardeners and landscape designers have chosen such a plant as juniper. This distant relative of pines and firs, has a delicate aroma, soft needles of various colors and is completely undemanding to growing conditions. Moreover, juniper bushes purify the air around them by killing pathogenic microbes. Its unique aroma is able to calm the nervous system, and sometimes relieve a headache.
The bushes of this plant do not require special care, it is enough to choose a suitable place for planting and provide watering during the drought period.
Suitable lighting
Sunny places are ideal for most types of junipers, and partial shade is acceptable for only one species (common juniper). If the bushes are planted in the shade, they may lose their decorative properties and become shapeless.
Optimal watering
Juniper plants do not tolerate excess moisture at all, if you overdo it with watering, the plant will start to hurt, and in the worst case, the entire root system will rot. Therefore, it should be watered only during the dry summer, but no more than two or three times a season.
pruning bushes
It is necessary to cut the juniper bushes carefully, because due to the slow growth, recovery will take quite a long time, the main task is to remove all dry branches that interfere with the growth of the bushes. To form a hedge from it, protruding shoots should be cut. This representative of the cypress family is quite frost-resistant, but seedlings of the first year of planting should be covered for the winter. If an adult plant has a spreading crown, then for the winter the branches of the crown must be tied with twine.
juniper planting
For a proper landing, a certain set of suitable conditions is necessary. This is the right place, and good soil, and the distance between the bushes.
If you plan to plant several juniper bushes, then keep in mind that the distance between them should be at least 1.5 m for low representatives of the species and about 2 m for tall ones.
After you decide on a landing site, you can safely begin to dig a hole, its depth is determined by how developed the root system is. As a rule, the size of the pit is made several times larger than the size of an earthen coma, and for large bushes, the depth can reach a meter. Then a small layer of drainage with sand is laid in the dug hole and then a bush is planted.
Types of junipers
There are quite a few types of juniper, in today's article we will consider the most popular and frequently used in landscape design.
juniper chinensis
Chinese juniper is used both in group and single plantings and is perfect for decorating alpine slides, slopes and rocky gardens. This type of juniper is unpretentious and requires a minimum of attention. So, you should pay attention to the prevention of fungal diseases and protect the needles from burning.
Common juniper
Common juniper is the most common type of this plant, which has many varieties. It grows both as tall multi-stemmed trees and spreading low or tall shrubs. Caring for this type of juniper is incredibly simple: it is drought-resistant, does not require top dressing, and can withstand almost any conditions. In the spring, 40-50 grams of nitroammophoska per square meter are applied to the soil.
juniper scaly
Scaly juniper is able to adapt to any conditions: it easily tolerates frost and summer heat, grows on any soil. Only young plantings need to be fed, which have not yet taken root sufficiently and are in the phase of active growth. Like Chinese juniper, it is sensitive to spring rays, so it is better to cover it during this period.
Juniper Cossack
Juniper Cossack is a common creeping shrub. Only freshly planted bushes need care, almost no care is required for adult plants. Young juniper requires constant watering and periodic loosening of the soil, because it does not like a lot of soil compaction. Like all other junipers, Cossack responds very well to sprinkling or spraying several times a week. It is recommended to feed in the spring with a small amount of complex fertilizers or nitroammophos.
Let's grow a Juniper in our area
juniper(Juniperus) trees and bushes, when created, are used very often today. Thanks to modern breeders, new varieties of junipers have been bred that are not “afraid to live” in urban conditions and even in megacities. But once they were not planted in industrial areas or densely populated areas precisely because of the dislike of junipers for gas contamination and air polluted by industrial waste.
But among amateur gardeners at home, this plant has long been held in high esteem. Moreover, there are about 70 species of wild-growing Junipers. All of them belong to genus Cypress(Cupressaceae). But the habitat of each of them is limited, except for the common Juniper (Juniperus communis), which grows on a very large territory: from the mountain tropics to the polar zone in the Northern Hemisphere. Now imagine how many decorative varieties can be derived from them.
At first, juniper was planted in places that were prone to erosion, creating entire plantations or making hedges. And over time, seeing a huge variety of their varieties, they began to use them to create rockeries, rock gardens, mixborders, heather gardens. It looks equally good both in group plantings and in singles.
In fact, Juniper was first used by landscapers 400 years ago, because it gets used to the conditions of the new environment very well. People of that time probably did not know about its phytoncidal, disinfecting properties and beneficial effects on the general atmosphere in the garden. But it was very often used as a remedy, in cooking and even in magical rites. Moreover, the Juniper in the winter garden looks at its best: it is an evergreen plant, and it can be both a shrub and a tree. Its leaves-needles grow for three years, gradually falling off and creating the appearance of an evergreen plant.
All varieties - shrubs and trees - are very well combined with each other: shrubs or undersized trees can be planted, creating alpine slides or a Scandinavian type of landscape, and tall crops can become a natural fence.
The main thing you need to know if you want to grow juniper on your site is the right place to plant and the necessary care for it.
Choosing a place of growth
Juniper is a culture that does not like harassment from other plant species. Having them too close to each other can create an unpleasant feeling of lethargy and monotony. And Juniper, planted intermittently (discretely), will set a certain rhythm for the site, emphasize its beauty and tie the entire composition of the garden together.
That is why a lot of space is needed for its good growth and development: from 0.5 m to 2 m - this is the most successful distance between crops. You should always take into account the fact that in ten years from a small tree or a nondescript bush it will turn into an adult plant. For example, bush of Cossack juniper(Juniperus sabina) after 10 years can occupy an area of up to 20 m², but it grows only up to 1.5 m in height.
Junipers are very fond of well-lit places, although they can easily adapt to any place if they are properly looked after. This condition is especially true for Junipers, which have variegated needles, so they will quickly acquire decorative qualities.
All species of this plant tolerate frost well. True, there are forms of this culture that need to be shaken from snow or tied up, since its branches may not withstand it and break: columnar Skyrocket Junipers - Scaly Juniper (J. squamata), Virginian Juniper (J. virginiana) and their decorative varieties.
Juniper Planting
Often, amateur gardeners, in order not to buy juniper, dig it up in the forest, in glades, meadows or edges. In such cases, in order for the culture to take root faster, take land near it. It will help the plant acclimatize faster in a new place of growth.
Junipers can be planted in open ground from the beginning of April to the end of May, and in autumn - in October. But if you have a plant with (in a tub or pot), then you can take it outside at any time, the main thing for such crops is the right one, top dressing and shading.
Of course, there are many types of Juniper, which means that the soil for planting them should have some differences. In order not to bother, you can create a universal soil for planting them. For such a mixture, it is necessary to take peat, coarse-grained river sand and soil from under a coniferous forest (1/1/1). But be sure to carry out mulching with peat or wood shavings, sprinkling the near-stem zone of the plant.
For planting Juniper, it is necessary to dig a hole 1 m / 1 m, and two bayonets deep and fill it with soil mixture, leaving room for the culture. It is necessary to plant a crop so that it remains on the surface. After planting, Juniper is abundantly watered under. Spray the plant as needed, that is, in the hot summer in the morning or evening. It is desirable to water the Juniper with small droplets of near-stem soil.
If you are transplanting an adult plant, then this is best done at the end of winter. This is due to the sensitive roots of the culture. The root system of this culture is superficial, so it is almost impossible to dig out and not touch the roots. And in winter, a frozen clod of earth will not allow them to be damaged. But large-sized, adult Junipers are still not recommended to be transplanted - in most cases they die. The rehabilitation period, after transplanting adult large plants, is three years.
Top dressing juniper
They begin to feed Juniper only a month after transplantation, and then, in small quantities. Instead of top dressing, it is better to use different biostimulants for the growth, development of the plant and its root system: Epin, Kornevin, etc. This is important for other reasons: Juniper is still very weak after transplantation and can be subject to various diseases and pests. And root-forming top dressing will help him acclimatize faster in a new place, enhancing root growth.
In winter, young plantings of junipers can be covered, as its delicate needles are exposed to the bright winter sun and cold wind. This can lead to browning of the needles or to the death of plants. Lutrasil, black, can also be used for soil.
Juniper Care and Reproduction
Caring for this culture is quite simple. The main thing is to water and feed on time. It is possible to carry out pruning: this removes, in most cases, dry shoots or shoots with brown needles.
Juniper is propagated if it is a wild species, and it is better to propagate a cultivated species