Juniper Chinese Blue Alps

Juniper Blue Alps has been used for landscaping for many years. It can be found in the vastness of the Caucasus, Crimea, Japan, China and Korea. The variety is undemanding in care, so even a beginner can handle growing in a summer cottage.

Description juniper Blue Alps

Juniper Blue Alps refers to ornamental coniferous evergreens. This is a shrub belonging to the Cypress family, which is popularly called “veres”. The plant is considered long-lived. Under favorable conditions, its lifetime is from 300 to 6000 years.

Description of Chinese juniper Blue Alps:

1. The color of an adult shrub is emerald green with a silver-gray tint.
2. The branches are powerful, lush, with massive hard prickly needles, stretching upwards. The needles are pointed, small, up to 1 cm in length.
3. The plant can be either monoecious or dioecious.
4. During fruiting, black-green cones with a whitish coating appear on the tree. The diameter of the cones is 5-10 mm, they consist of 4-8 scales and contain 2-3 seeds.
5. The height of the juniper Blue Alps by the age of ten is about 3-4 m, and the diameter of the crown reaches 2 m.
6. Branches grow 10-20 cm per year.

The Blue Alps juniper variety is highly frost-resistant, unpretentious in care, photophilous, can be grown on poorly fertile, dry soils.

Juniper Blue Alps in landscape design

As you can see from the photo, the Blue Alps Chinese juniper is a neat and compact tree, so it is often used in landscape design. Its textured emerald needles and dark cones, as if powdered with snow, attract the eyes of others.

It looks great both alone and in the neighborhood with other coniferous and deciduous undersized plants, stones.

It is possible to build a semblance of a “hedge” from a shrub, for which it must be cut regularly, gradually giving the desired shape. Juniper Blue Alps is also widely used as a garden bonsai.

The Blue Alps variety is often planted in rose gardens, rock gardens and rockeries, on terraces and lawns. The plant is adapted to grow in a polluted environment. It can be found both in the ennobled urban areas, and in the flower beds of suburban summer cottages.

Planting and caring for Blue Alps juniper

When buying seedlings, it should be borne in mind that a plant with an open root system is transplanted only in a certain period, from late April to early May. Seedlings with closed roots are more viable, so they can be planted throughout the whole season.

Seedling and planting preparation

A bright, ventilated, sun-heated place is suitable as a landing site. If the plant is constantly in the shade, the needles begin to turn yellow and fall off. However, getting juniper under the bright midday sun is also undesirable.

The soil should be nutritious and well-moistened. They mainly use light soils with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction (5 – 7 pH): sandy, loamy.

The first step is to dig a hole for planting. Its volume depends on the length of the roots of the existing seedling. As a rule, it should be 2 times the size of the root ball, because the roots need space for further development. The bottom of the pit is covered with drainage: crushed stone, expanded clay or broken brick. The layer thickness is at least 20 cm.

If the soil in the garden is too dense and clayey, the pits are filled with a nutrient substrate:

1. humus (2 parts);
2. peat (2 parts);
3. sand (1 part);
4. a little top dressing for coniferous plants.

The soil must be pre-moistened, and the seedlings themselves are treated with root formation stimulants.

Rules of landing

When planting juniper Blue Alps, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. The distance between seedlings is at least 0,5 – 2 m.
2. Seedlings are placed in pre-prepared pits to a depth of about 70 cm.
3. The size of the landing pit is on average 0,5 – 0,8 m.
4. It is important not to deepen the root neck too much, leaving it on the surface.
5. From above, the earth is sprinkled around with a thick layer of mulch, consisting of moss or sawdust.
6. Once planted, Blue Alps Juniper requires heavy watering for a week.
7. Landing in lowlands, places of stagnant water is not recommended.
8. Adverse proximity to climbing plants.
9. Immediately after planting, it is recommended to shade the juniper from exposure to direct sunlight, as they can burn a still fragile seedling.

Watering and top dressing

Blue Alps juniper care includes fertilizing and watering.

Watering is done infrequently, in the dry summer season 2 or 3 times 10-30 liters per plant. Young individuals need to be watered more often.

Once a week in the evenings, the Blue Alps juniper is sprayed with cool water, as it is adversely affected by dry air. This procedure is called sprinkling.

Feeding is carried out, as a rule, 1 – 2 times a year. Despite the fact that the plant is unpretentious and can develop without additional soil fertilization, regular top dressing helps to accelerate growth, improve appearance and strengthen needles.

Mineral top dressing is alternated with organic. Organic is used in preparing juniper for the winter season. In the spring, before the start of the active growth phase, gardeners recommend using nitrophoska as a mineral fertilizer at the rate of 30-50 g per plant.

Mulching and loosening

To provide juniper roots with access to oxygen, it is necessary to make frequent shallow loosening of the soil around the trunk. Loosen the soil once a month, being careful not to damage the juniper roots. It is better to do this after the earth is moistened, and all weeds that provoke diseases of the plant are weeded.

After planting, the soil around the Blue Alps juniper is covered by 4–7 cm with a layer of mulch made of peat, pine bark, moss, nutshell or sawdust. Mulching is also carried out in the winter. Then, in early spring, the mulch layer is removed, as it can provoke root collar rot.

Blue Alps juniper pruning

Since the Blue Alps juniper does not grow too fast, it is important to carefully cut it and use well-sharpened tools. Pruning makes the crown denser.

The first pruning is done before the juniper enters the active growth phase, in March or early April. The main thing is that the air temperature does not fall below 4 degrees.

For the second, August or early September is suitable, because before the onset of frost, a dense bark should already form on young shoots.

All dry, damaged branches must be removed and gradually form the desired type of crown: spherical or elongated. However, no more than 1/3 of the annual growth can be cut.

Preparation for winter

Despite the fact that the Blue Alps juniper is famous for its winter hardiness, it is recommended to cover young seedlings for the winter with spruce branches to provide protection from snow and wind.

With age, frost resistance increases. Adults mulch, and those growing alone are surrounded by temporary protection to protect branches from breakage. To do this, they are pressed against the trunk with a tape or rope.

Reproduction of juniper Blue Alps

Juniper Chinese Blue Alps is propagated in several ways. The main method is vegetative, using cuttings.

Diseases and pests of Chinese juniper Blue Alps

Blue Alps juniper diseases:

1. Fungal infection caused by excessive soil moisture. The disease is most common among young individuals. The fungus located in the soil is activated in conditions of high humidity, leading to the death of the plant. First of all, the juniper roots suffer, after that the vascular system: the bush shrinks, starting from the crown. Juniper cannot be cured. It must be destroyed and the soil replaced.
2. Rust, accompanied by the appearance of brown seals on the branches. If signs of the disease are found, diseased branches should be removed and destroyed using sterile garden shears. Treat juniper with fungicide.
3. Alternariosis, a sign of which is the appearance of brown and yellowish needles. As a rule, the reason is the lack of ventilation between the trees, too tight planting. The disease starts from the lower branches; if no action is taken, the entire juniper shrub may die. The affected parts are removed, the sections are disinfected.

Pests:

• coal-winged moth;
• juniper scab;
• snails;
• red ants;
• juniper lover.

Fight insects with a variety of insecticides. When processing, shed not only the plant, but also the entire soil around it. After 2 weeks, the procedure should be repeated, since there may be larvae in the soil that are in different stages of development.

Conclusion

Juniper Blue Alps is undemanding in care. It will delight its owner with bright emerald foliage all year round. Due to its decorative appearance, the plant is widely used among gardeners and professional landscape designers.

Chinese Juniper Blue Alps Reviews