Juniper: the most important nuances of growing soft needles

Juniper is not only a beautiful ornamental plant, but also a source of a wide variety of properties useful to humans. Growing a juniper is not very difficult. In this material, we will talk about the correct planting, care, reproduction and the main pests of the juniper.

Juniper description

Juniper is an evergreen coniferous shrub. Belongs to the Cypress family. Juniper is also often referred to as "heather".
This crop has excellent drought tolerance. Juniper is a light-loving plant. It is a long-liver, can exist for up to six hundred years! This culture is quite widespread in the Northern Hemisphere. But there is a type of juniper that is popular in Africa. And this culture can also be found in semi-deserts: the west of America, Mexico.

Juniper: growing requirements

Juniper is quite picky about lighting, so it is recommended to choose open areas, which will receive maximum sunlight. The soil must be kept moderately moist and the groundwater table must not be too close. The soil should be fertile with good drainage. It is better if it is not heavy in composition. The juniper is usually propagated by cuttings, or with the help of seeds. Junipers are not too whimsical plants, therefore they are so loved by gardeners who want to give the site a decorative look.

How to plant a juniper correctly

As mentioned above, when planting a juniper, you need to choose places that are well lit and warmed by the sun. The shadow does not have a very good effect on the shape of the plant, they can simply lose it and stop wearing a decorative look. As for the common juniper, then, perhaps, this is the only species that can tolerate a little shade.
When planting, keep in mind that you need to maintain a distance between the bushes, usually about half a meter. This applies to compact varieties. And between the spreading and powerful ones, you need to maintain a distance of one and a half to two meters. Before planting a juniper from a container, be sure to soak the root system well with water, so soak the ground with roots in water for a couple of hours.

As for the depth of the holes, here you need to be guided by the size of the roots and clod of juniper earth. As a rule, the size of the hole is two to three times the size of the earth clod. Bulky, spreading bushes are planted to a depth of about seventy centimeters.
To avoid stagnant moisture and the risk of root rot, be sure to lay a drainage layer at the bottom of your holes. The layer should be about 15 - 20 centimeters. The substrate, which will need to cover the roots of the bush, consists of the following elements: peat, turf soil and sand. The root collar of large bushes should be five to ten centimeters above the edges of the holes. In the case of young plants, it should be left level with the ground.
The pH should be between 4.5 and 7 units. This indicator depends on what type and variety you are planting. So, for example, when planting a Cossack juniper, it is recommended to add wood ash or lime before planting.
Juniper is not too picky about the composition of the soil, the only thing that should be taken care of since spring (April, May) is the introduction of universal fertilizers into the soil.

Proper care of juniper

Junipers have a negative attitude to frequent watering; additional moisture is required only on dry summer days. And even then, you do not need to be too frequent: two or three times a season will be enough. Usually it is spent on one adult shrub from ten to thirty liters. In the evening, once every 6-7 days it will not be superfluous to spray your plants with water. Especially this requirement applies to the juniper of Virginia and Chinese. The air should not be too dry for them. As for the first species, it has a high resistance to drought, but the soil is still kept moist.

For young plantings, it will be necessary to carry out regular loosening. You do not need to do it deeply so as not to damage the root system. Loosening is convenient to combine with weeding and watering. After your bushes have been planted, it is better to mulch the soil with peat and wood chips. The layer does not need to be made thick, five to eight centimeters will be enough. Plants that are thermophilic should be mulched for winter. With the onset of the beginning of spring, the mulch layer must be removed in order to avoid the onset of root rot.
Juniper grows slowly. For this reason, treat pruning with caution. By and large, it is necessary to remove dried branches. This can be done regardless of the season. Shelter before wintering is carried out only for young plants for the first year after they are planted in the ground.
This culture is propagated by cuttings and seeds.

How to propagate a juniper

Juniper belongs to dioecious plants. This type reproduces either by seeds or vegetatively. As for decorative species, here reproduction is carried out exclusively with the help of cuttings.
What gender the common juniper is, you can understand by looking at the crown. Male plants have a narrow, columnar or egg-shaped crown. Female specimens have a rather loose and spreading crown. In the spring (April, May), male plants have yellow spikelets, and female specimens have green cones. The fruits are round in shape, with a diameter of about 8 mm. Ripening usually occurs at the end of summer - mid-autumn. At first they are green in color, but then, as the fruits ripen, they begin to acquire a beautiful black and purple color. Juniper berries have a pleasant spice aroma and a slightly bitter aftertaste. Each fruit carries 3 seeds within itself.

If you want to plant a seed and grow a bush from it, then first stratify the seed. To do this, sow seeds in a container with soil in the fall. During the winter, the containers should be stored outdoors, covered with snow. With the onset of May days, seeds that have wintered can be sown on the site. In principle, common juniper can be sown in spring without stratification. But be prepared that they will rise next year.
But if you want to get a decorative form at the output, then you can safely forget about seed reproduction. Only the vegetative method is suitable here, that is, with the help of cuttings. In the spring (late April - mid-May), it is necessary to cut a one-year-old stalk from a juniper that has reached a respectable age (eight to ten years). It should be about ten to twelve centimeters long. At the bottom, three to five centimeters, you need to remove all the needles. Remember that the cuttings must be cut off along with a small part of the old bark. It needs to be carefully trimmed. After that, the cuttings are placed in a solution with a growth stimulator for a day.

For the plant to root well, it is better to use a mixture of peat and sand in a 1: 1 ratio. Then cover your cuttings with plastic and arrange the shade. You do not need to water, it is better to periodically spray. After a month and a half, almost all cuttings develop well roots.In summer (late June - early July), cuttings that have taken root should be planted in ridges. Next, they must survive the winter in open ground. Do not forget to cover with spruce branches. Subsequent actions consist in growing (about two to three years), and only then transplantation to a permanent place takes place.

Juniper diseases and pests

The most popular and frequently encountered problem for junipers is considered by gardeners to be rust. As for harmful insects, here most of all you need to be wary of the spider mite, miner moths, aphids and juniper scale insects.
To overcome aphids, it is recommended to spray with Fitoverm: two grams per liter of water. It is necessary to maintain an interval between treatments of ten days - two weeks.
There is a good remedy "Decis" against moths. They need to spray plants at the rate of 2.5 grams of substance per ten liters of water. The interval is the same, ten days - two weeks.
"Karate" copes well with spider mites. The proportions are observed at the rate of fifty grams per ten liters of water.
The shield is afraid of "Karbofos" (seventy grams per ten liters of water).
Experienced gardeners recommend using a solution with arceride (fifty grams per ten liters of water) against rust. Spraying will need to be carried out in the run. The interval between them must be observed in ten days.