Is Creeping Juniper Salt Resistant?

Salt Resistance

• Creeping juniper is tolerant of salt, according to the University of Connecticut plant database. This includes areas that are exposed to salt spray. Because of this, and because the juniper also grows on compacted soil, it is often used in rocky coastal landscapes. Creeping juniper can also be used to control erosion, as a hardy container plant or in mass plantings.

Climate

• Not only is this plant resistant to salt, compacted soil, drought and urban pollution, but it is also adaptable. Creeping juniper is found in almost every climate and is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9. Creeping juniper also grows at high altitudes -- up to 8,000 feet above sea level.

Culture

• Creeping juniper grows best in full sun. It will grow in partial shade, but foliage growth will be thin as a result. Soil conditions are not a problem for this plant, and it even adapts to different levels of pH. Creeping juniper needs slightly moist soil when it is becoming established, but mature plants can tolerate even long periods of drought. This hardy plant does have some weaknesses, however. It doesn't like to be stepped on, and the foliage and berries are favorite foods of moose, grouse and deer.

Cultivars

• The species is green in the summer and turns purplish in the winter, but different cultivars have very different characteristics. Juniperus horizontalis "Blue Chip" is hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9 and features steel-blue summer foliage that turns purple on the tips come fall. Juniperus horizontalis "Limeglow" glows in summer with vibrantly yellow new growth. It is also hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9. Juniperus horizontalis "Wiltonii" is one of the shortest cultivars. At a maximum height of only about 6 inches, this bluish-green plant thrives in USDA zones 3 through 9 and develops purplish tones with cooler temperatures.