# How to Reproduce a Juniper Plant
The perennial evergreen juniper grows as a shrub, tree or ground cover and is commonly used in landscaping. Juniper also gives us gin, the alcohol produced from a female juniper's bluish berries. For a juniper to make seeds, both male and female plants are needed along with the cooperation of pollinators. Luckily for gardeners, the plant can also grow from stem cuttings. Propagating this way reproduces the parent plant -- in other words, a stem cutting produces a clone. In general, the cuttings of low-growing junipers root more easily than those of upright plants, according to the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Science.
Things You'll Need
- Flower pot
- Soil mix (1:1 peat and sand)
- Large, clear plastic bag
- Small pruning shears
- Small, sharp knife
Instructions
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1
Fill a flower pot with a half-sand, half-peat soil mixture. Water the soil.
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2
Place the pot in the plastic bag large enough to accommodate the flower pot and about 6 additional inches. The opening of the bag should be at the top of the pot. Don't seal the bag.
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3
Cut a 4- to 6-inch piece of partially mature, semi-hard growth from the juniper. The wood from this cutting will have grown in the current season, about six to nine weeks prior, so that the piece will have begun to harden. It's best to take the cutting in the morning.
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4
Strip off any side branches or needle growth from the lower third of the cutting.
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5
Wound the cutting by making a shallow, inch-long cut at the bottom of the stem. The cut should be vertical so that the knife is parallel to the stem.
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6
Push the cutting into the soil until the bottom third of the wounded stem is buried. The cutting should be stable within the soil. It's okay to push it down a bit more to accomplish that.
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7
Seal the plastic bag.
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8
Place the pot in indirect light and keep the soil moist. You'll need to check the soil regularly -- daily at first -- making sure the humidity of the plastic-enclosed pot is keeping the soil moist. Water gently if needed.
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