Features of scaly juniper and its popular varieties
Many types and varieties of juniper are in demand in landscape design. Not an exception - a scaly juniper with a squat, creeping or open crown.
A coniferous evergreen shrub native to the east and southeast of Asia was discovered and studied in the first half of the 19th century. In landscaping, culture is valued due to:
- decorative green-silvery dense needles;
- original crown shape;
- frost resistance, allowing wintering in the middle lane;
- undemanding care and growing conditions;
- long, in nature reaching 600 years of life of a shrub.
Description of scaly juniper
The branches of the shrub have frequent branching and are covered with hard prickly needles up to 8 mm long. The needles with green dorsum and silvery due to the characteristic stripe in the aperture are arranged in whorls in whorls by three. The needle-like needles are curved towards the shoot and have a characteristic aroma of the juniper.
Like other members of the genus, scaly juniper does not have a high growth rate. Over the course of a year, the plant grows in height and width by only a few centimeters. Oval cones that form on mature plants, containing one seed each, ripen in the second year, reaching a diameter of 6–8 mm and gradually changing color from greenish-red to a dense purple-black hue.
Caring for scaly juniper does not differ from caring for other representatives of the genus. The plant is best planted in light areas protected from cold winds. In the middle lane and to the north, provide for the protection of shrubs from frost.
In severe winters, the needles turn brown and die off, the bark cracks, small branches and shoots of the last year dry up.
Description of popular varieties of scaly juniper
Compact size, unusually hanging shape of young shoots, silvery-green, and in some cases even golden needles are the reasons for the popularity of scaly juniper and varieties derived from wild plants.
Juniper scaly Blue Carpet (Blue Carpet)
To create an even carpet of a bluish-silver shade on the site, the scaly juniper Blue Carpet will help. A creeping, relatively rapidly growing shrub of this variety is distinguished by the appearance of young, hanging shoots and noble shades of prickly hard needles.
A plant, if a light area is chosen for it, without the risk of spring flooding and at least minimal care is provided, easily takes root on slides, curbs, creates picturesque spots near reservoirs and along the edge of plantings of larger plants. The variety is durable and in comparison with related crops, due to its low height and snow cover, it easily tolerates frost.
In the hands of the craftsmen, the scaly juniper of the Blue Carpet variety, thanks to long-term formation, turns into fantasy trees with dense caps of greenery on a fancy trunk.
Juniper scaly Meyeri (Meyeri)
The value of the Meyeri scaly juniper is the original crown shape with drooping young shoots. The shrub, bred in China at the beginning of the last century and highly valued in landscape design, is one of the most massive varieties of juniper, and it is used not only for landscaping parks, gardens and squares, but also for bonsai.
The dynamic shape of the shoots of the Meyeri scaly juniper helps to create miniatures that are unique in their picturesqueness.
The evergreen shrub reaches its maximum decorative effect during the period of active growth of branches, that is, in the second half of spring and at the beginning of summer. At this time, a young growth with silvery needles appears. During the year the plant grows in height by 6–10 cm and in adulthood can grow up to 2–5 meters. This is the largest member of the species.
Juniper scaly Holger (Holger)
Holger has a sprawling crown shape with young drooping shoots, as well as common species characteristics, with the previous variety of scaly juniper. However, even at the first glance at this ornamental plant, it is difficult to confuse it with other varieties.
The height of Holger scaly juniper in adult plants does not exceed 80–100 cm. The crown width of a small shrub is within one and a half meters. But even with such a modest size, this juniper ort is difficult to miss due to the long-lasting light, golden-yellow color of the young growth.
As if covered with sunshine, the silvery-green shrub looks great both in a group and in a single planting. Do not forget that the juniper on the site is not only a living decoration, but also a powerful air purifier. Enduring the presence of numerous impurities, the plant disinfects the surrounding atmosphere.
Compact evergreen shrub suitable for container growing.
Juniper scaly Dream Joy (Dream Joy)
“Dream and Joy”. The name of this ort of scaly juniper eloquently represents a plant with a very compact crown, which owes its decorative effect to light green or even yellow needles on the tops of young branches. As if caught in a bright fire, the shoots become green with a noticeable bluish tinge as they mature. The squat crown of the scaly juniper Dream Joy grows no more than 60–80 cm in height, the width of the shrub is 120 cm.
In the garden for an ornamental evergreen culture, you should find a bright place with a well-aerated soil.
In planting, it is better to give this variety space in the front rows, so that a small shrub is not lost behind the "backs" of larger plants.
Juniper scaly Blue Star (Blue Star)
In the 50s of the last century, in one of the Dutch nurseries, among the plantings of Meyeri scaly juniper, an unusual shrub with an original star-shaped arrangement of needles and the absence of drooping shoots characteristic of the variety was noticed. The plant has been noticed and its mutation has been fixed. So, a decade later, the Blue Star scaly juniper appeared at the disposal of gardeners and landscape designers, which became one of the most popular in the numerous family of evergreen shrubs.
The plant stands out with a very dense crown formed by densely covered with silvery needles ascending, strongly branching shoots. The height of a medium-sized plant, often referred to as a dwarf species, reaches a meter, the crown diameter reaches 2.5 meters. The variety is characterized by weak growth. For a year, the dimensions of the bush change by only 3-5 cm.
With long-term formation on the basis of Blue Star scaly juniper plants, it is possible to create decorative standard forms that are not found in nature.
Juniper scaly Blue Swede (Blue Swede)
The shrub is distinguished by silvery or greenish-blue needles, a compact squat crown and hanging shoots. The plant is undemanding, grows easily on poor soils and is relatively winter hardy.Juniper scaly Blue Svid belongs to medium-sized representatives of the genus. In ten years, the evergreen plant reaches only 50 centimeters in height and about a meter in width. The maximum possible size of the bush does not exceed one and a half meters in height and 2.5 meters in width.
A characteristic feature of the Blue Swede scaly juniper variety is the almost gray, steel prickly bluish needles up to 1 cm long, which become almost gray by winter.
A shrub that tolerates a little shade grows better in the light, is not afraid of frost and is suitable for growing in cities where the air is oversaturated with gases and salts of heavy metals.
Juniper scaly Hunnetorp (Hannetorp)
The Hannethorpe Scaly Juniper is popular with landscapers and gardeners in Central Europe and Scandinavia. Evergreen ephedra belongs to varieties with slow growth rates, with a compact semi-lying crown and short sharp needles of a silvery-green color. According to some sources, this plant is a type of Blue Svid variety.
Juniper scaly Floreant (Floreant)
On the basis of the Blue Star scaly juniper variety, an original variegated variety was obtained with light yellowish-green needles, not only concentrating on the ends of the shoots, but spots scattered throughout the crown.
The dwarf bush, which grows to a maximum of one meter in height and two meters in diameter, received the name of a football club. Today, the scaly juniper Floreant with a hemispherical formed crown is loved by many fans of garden coniferous crops.