How to Use Junipers for Landscaping

When you put together your landscaping plan, junipers may quickly become a favorite "go to" solution for many areas of the yard because of their sturdiness and adaptability. Well-suited to urban conditions where poor soil, heat and drought may prevail, junipers also enhance lush, park-like landscapes. With over 150 species and varieties, this narrow-leaf evergreen conifer family has trees, shrubs and groundcovers to fulfill your design requirements. Depending on the species, junipers thrive in northern climates up to U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 3 and in warmer climates to zone 9.

Instructions

- 1
  Cover bare, weedy and rocky problem areas in the landscape with low-growing or creeping junipers. Blue-gray colored J. chinensis "Procumbens" spreads as wide as 20 feet and grows just 2 feet high. J. horizontalis cultivars also grow to just 2 feet, but have a narrower spread of 8 feet, a handy size for smaller areas, bordering driveways and outlining pathways.
- 2
  Create a privacy hedge with junipers that grow upright with columnar form. Choose junipers with foliage colors to complement nearby landscaping elements. Use a row of tall, bright "Robusta Green" Chinese junipers to soften the edges of a large stone or concrete patio. Create a backdrop for brightly colored mixed perennials by planting a hedgerow of silver-blue J. scopulorum "Wichita Blue," which grows at least 18 feet high.
- 3
  Reduce mowing and the potential for erosion by planting juniper shrubs on steeply sloped sections of the landscape. Retain the visual appeal of the land's sharp contours by planting J. horizontalis "Wiltonii" along the hillside where its bluish foliage and 4- to 6-inch height makes it sit snug to the ground. Alternatively, highlight the slope's vertical dimension with the widely available Pfitzer juniper that grows 5 feet high and 10 feet wide or the slightly smaller Armstrong juniper shrub.
- 4
  Add texture, color and dimension to landscaping at a beach cottage or oceanside home by planting salt-tolerant junipers. Combine evergreen shore junipers with ornamental grasses and native coastal plants to accent the property's entryway. Use low-growing, heat-tolerant J. conferta "Blue Pacific" for foundation plantings and the lively green "Emerald Sea" as an ornamental accent plant.
- 5
  Design a substantial focal point in the garden with a grouping of junipers that have different shapes, heights and colors. Pair a gray-green, 20-foot tall ashe juniper tree with two or three mint green, 6-foot high, vase-shaped J. chinensis "Mint Julep" shrubs. Place a pyramid-shaped J. scopulorum "Wichita Blue" in the corner of a grass-green lawn, flanked by small, yellow-toned J. chinensis "Gold Coast."

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