Juniper scaly - guest from China

Juniper scaly is from China. In natural conditions, it is an evergreen shrub, reaching a height of one and a half meters. This plant has many garden forms.

It is very popular because of its winter hardiness, undemanding soil fertility and resistance to urban conditions. Juniper scaly is recommended for use in landscaping rock gardens. He has a silver-blue needles. This branchy thick bush grows at an average speed. Juniper is a dioecious representative of the cypress family. He has black and shiny pine cones, pine needles up to 0.8 centimeters long, located three in whorls. In addition to its decorative properties, juniper scaly also has a medicinal use: in medicine its fruits are used - the pineal glands.

Care and reproduction

The root system of this plant is located on the surface of the soil. In addition, juniper scaly is exposed to strong winds, so it is usually planted in enclosed places: near fences, next to other, higher plants. Good growth is observed in the sun or in a light shade, with complete absence of light, the color of the needles pales noticeably. Juniper scaly tolerates both heat and winter cold, it is not demanding on the composition of air or water. The soil beneath it needs to be drained as much as possible. If desired, the bushes can be subjected to severe pruning, after which they will be restored in a few days. Such a haircut promotes the formation of a dense crown. Breeding juniper scaly cuttings or planting seeds in loose soils. Rooting and engraftment are fairly long processes, sometimes lasting up to two years. The copies grown by cuttings have the best decorative qualities, they have a thicker crown and darker needles color.

Varieties

The most popular are such varieties as juniper scaly Holger, Blue Carpet, Blue Star, Meieri, etc. They all have a bluish color of needles, except for the Golden Flame variety only, which has an original mottled yellowish color, which, in fact, is the reason for its name.

Juniper scaly "Meyeri" is popular with specialists in landscape design. It gives an increase of about 10 centimeters per year, and on its straight, short branches, shoots in the period of intensive growth hang tips of a bluish-silvery color. It is very exquisite on this bush its darkish-blue shishkyagods, covered with a wax coating, look. This grade is used to create bonsai. Thanks to the mutation of this variety, no less interesting garden forms of juniper appeared, such as Blue Carpet, which is a broad, fast growing creeping shrub. It is recommended to grow it in containers on the streets, roofs of houses. Another version - Blue Star - is used to strengthen the slopes, as well as the arrangement of curbs and alpine hills.

Application

Stretching juniper varieties are ideal for arranging the original curb-lawn. For rockeries, the lowest species are convenient, which are light-loving and perfectly fit into a stony landscape. By equipping your garden space, you need to remember that not all plants will withstand junipers. For roses, clematis and peonies, problems can arise if they grow closer than two meters away. With a heather or rhododendron, juniper, in contrast, is in a very harmonious relationship. When pruning and shaping a bush, care should be taken: gloves must always be used, since juniper juice, when exposed to unprotected skin, sometimes has an irritating effect due to the content of toxic substances. You can not allow children to collect and beautiful pine cones to avoid poisoning.