Juniper scaly Blue Carpet

Juniper scaly Blue Carpet is a coniferous evergreen plant. Translated from English, blue carpet means “blue carpet”: the shrub got its name due to branches densely creeping along the ground with silver-blue needles and dark blue berries. Under natural conditions, it is most often found on mountain slopes in China and Taiwan. The article presents a description and photo of the scaly juniper Blue Carpet (blue carpet), the basic rules for planting and caring for the plant, options for its use in landscape design.

Description juniper Blue Carpet

Juniperus squamata blue carpet was first bred by Dutch breeders in 1972, and five years later the plant received recognition and a gold medal at a specialized international exhibition for its unique highly decorative properties. The culture is well adapted for cultivation in the climatic conditions of the European part of Our Country.

Juniper Blue Carpet is a shrub that creeps along the ground, forming dense green thickets. In total, the botanist has more than 70 species of this plant, each of which has its own characteristics.

Distinctive features of the Blue Carpet variety are hard blue-tinted shoots and soft scaly needles. Its hard branches grow horizontally and densely, from below slightly rising above the ground. At the end of summer, fruits appear on the plant – small blue cones that look like berries. These fruits of the shrub have a spicy aroma and a very bitter taste.

The height of juniper scaly Blue Carpet

In the tenth year, the plant reaches an average of 30 cm in height and 2 m in width, and in adulthood – up to 80 cm and 6 m, respectively. The length of the prickly needles of the shrub is 6 mm.

Among the varieties of scaly juniper, representatives of Blue Carpet are among the most compact: from the most undersized – Skuamata Blue Carpet (up to 50 cm) – and to the highest – Blue Carpet Bonsai (up to 1,6 m).

Winter hardiness of juniper scaly Blue Carpet

Juniper Blue Carpet has a fairly high level of frost resistance, but needs careful care in the winter: the unfallen needles of the plant can be adversely affected by wind and frost. This can lead to its freezing: an ugly brown shade appears on the branches, and the shrub dies in a short time. Therefore, in winter, the plant should be protected with a covering material.

Growth rate of juniper scaly Blue Carpet

Juniper is a perennial plant with an average lifespan of 250-300 years. In proportion to the life span, the growth of the shrub is fast: it stretches up to 5-7 years, 8-10 cm per year.

The location of the shrub also affects the growth rate: it is a light-loving plant, and the smallest dimming can affect its appearance and development. Sufficient fertilization of the soil also has a positive effect on growth.

The smell of juniper Blue Carpet

Scaly juniper is characterized by a somewhat sharp, but rather pleasant coniferous aroma. The smell of the shrub is considered healing: it is able to stimulate and strengthen the nervous system, soothe headaches, cure respiratory diseases, hypertension, and also prevent insomnia. Phytoncides secreted by the plant help to purify the air from pathogens and bacteria.

Juniper Blue Carpet in landscape design

Blue Carpet is a favorite variety of gardeners and landscape designers, as it is quite unpretentious and easy to care for. The shrub easily adapts to pruning and quickly recovers, while forming an even denser crown layer. Due to its highly decorative properties, the plant is often used to decorate parks, gardens and squares. Therefore, photos of the Blue Carpet scaly juniper are often found on landscape design sites.

1. With the help of the Blue Carpet variety, single groups are created against the background of the lawn. The disadvantage of such a composition lies in the technical difficulty of mowing the lawn area around the juniper due to the creeping branches of the shrub.
2. The scaly juniper is great for combinations with flowering annuals. The correct calculation of the distance between plant species is important in order to ensure full growth and development for each.
3. The creeping form of the Blue Carpet variety is excellent for decorating slopes and makes it possible to use juniper as a ground cover. It is organic in the design of alpine slides, as well as flat rockeries. Some designers use juniper to decorate the banks of garden ponds.

Blue Carpet Juniper is an indispensable plant in urban landscaping, as it has a fairly high level of resistance to urban polluted air and lends itself well to artistic shaping. It is also often used as a container culture.

Planting and caring for juniper Blue Carpet

Caring for and planting a Blue Carpet juniper shrub is not particularly difficult. However, when planting even such an easy-to-maintain plant, it is necessary to take into account some nuances:

• Soil features;
• Correct planting of the bush;
• Rules for watering and feeding the plant;
• The content of juniper in winter.

Seedling and planting preparation

It is recommended to buy seedlings with a closed root system, since open roots can only be planted during humid moderate weather (April, May and September). Shrubs with an open root system should also be carefully treated with root stimulants (Fulvix, Heteroauxin, Radifarm).

The soil for planting shrubs must meet the requirements:

• Sufficient level of illumination;
• non-salinity of the earth;
• Lack of groundwater nearby.

Blue Carpet juniper is best suited for slightly acidic or neutral soil. Properly prepared soil should include the addition of soddy soil, peat or sand in a ratio of 1:2:1, respectively. It is best to choose spacious and sunny areas without stagnant water.

Rules for planting juniper scaly Blue Carpet

To plant the Blue Carpet variety, you must perform the following sequence of actions:

1. Dig a hole slightly larger than the root of the plant. Its depth should be 70 cm.
2. Fill the bottom of the landing pit with a drainage layer of crushed stone, pebbles or shaved bricks (up to 20 cm).
3. Pour a layer of soddy soil, peat soil, and sand.
4. Cover the entire root system with earth.
   Important! The neck of the shrub must be pulled over the soil.
5. The soil around the plant does not need to be crushed: it tends to gradually settle after planting.

When planting a crop, it is important to consider the following rules:

• The distance between seedlings should be from 0,5 to 2 m, depending on the size and characteristics of the plants;
• A newly planted juniper needs abundant watering for 7 to 9 days;
• The best time to plant the Blue Carpet variety is in the spring, after the snow has thawed: planting a shrub at a later time due to the active sun can lead to burns and the early death of an unrooted plant;
• After planting, the near-trunk part of the Blue Carpet juniper must be mulched with a layer of peat;
• Juniper can grow on almost any soil, but it is very important to prevent constant waterlogging of the earth;
• Juniper Blue Carpet is able to tolerate drought well. It actively grows and develops in shady places with light sunlight;
• In winter, it is not allowed to bury the bush with large snowdrifts: this can harm the fragile branches of the plant;
• For landing, it is preferable to choose places protected from cold winds.

Watering and top dressing

Young plants require systematic watering, while adult shrubs are drought-resistant, so they are watered during dry times: during such periods, the scaly juniper responds well to crown sprinkling.

In the summer season, Blue Carpet reacts poorly to heat, and therefore needs daily spraying and abundant watering (1 – 2 times a day). It is better to do this in the morning and after sunset, so as not to provoke burns on the needles. Despite the light-loving nature of the plant, in order to avoid burns from the bright sun in the spring, it is also required to cover the crown of the shrub with a light-colored non-woven covering material or use a special green mesh.

In the spring (in April or May), the juniper needs to be fertilized: nitroammophoska or complex mineral fertilizers are well suited for top dressing, and in the fall – potassium-phosphorus top dressing. For newly planted young shrubs, shallow loosening of the soil should be carried out periodically.

Mulching and loosening

Young seedlings of the Blue Carpet variety need periodic loosening after watering, as well as regular weeding.

Immediately after planting, it is necessary to mulch the soil with a layer of peat (6 – 10 cm), pine bark or wood chips. In the spring, the mulch should be removed to prevent rotting of the root neck.

Loosening the soil should be carried out carefully and shallowly so as not to damage the surface roots of the plant.

To slow down the rapid evaporation of moisture, the juniper irrigation circle should be mulched. Weeds can also interfere with the development of shrubs, so mulching the soil around the plant will additionally serve to protect the soil and improve its properties. For mulching, compost or humus is used, sprinkled with sawdust or pine bark on top. Cones and pine needles are also suitable. The mulching layer should be approximately 5 – 6 cm in height.

Juniper pruning Blue Carpet

The Blue Carpet juniper variety does not need frequent pruning: it should be done only in the spring to remove all incorrectly growing and twisted branches.

When growing juniper next to other deciduous plants, care must be taken to ensure that no leaf litter remains in its crown, the subsequent decay of which can cause serious damage to the branches and even partial decay of the plant.

Preparation for winter

In the first year after planting in winter, the plant needs shelter. The lowest temperature that Blue Carpet juniper can withstand is -29 ^oC.

In winter, due to the negative effects of wind and frost, the needles of scaly juniper can upset the appearance of an ugly shade; in the saddest weather conditions, the plant may die. That is why, in order to reduce the risk of freezing before the onset of winter, it is necessary to carefully protect the juniper with a special covering material, and sprinkle the roots with a layer of peat 8–10 cm thick. After mulching with peat, cover the crown of young Blue Carpet seedlings with spruce branches.

At the end of winter, in order to avoid direct sunlight, the scaly juniper branches are loosely covered with a special mesh or agrofiber.

Reproduction of juniper Blue Carpet

Juniper Blue Carpet is a dioecious plant. Its bushes can be both female and male: this can be easily determined by the type of crown: the male version of Blue Carpet has a narrow, ovoid crown, and the female one is prostrate and loose. In the spring, male junipers turn yellow stripes, and small green cones appear on female bushes.

Blue Carpet ornamental juniper can be propagated in two ways: by seeds and cuttings. The last breeding option is preferable – for good growth and a beautiful plant appearance.

Blue Carpet juniper fruits ripen by the beginning of autumn: they have a rounded shape and an average size of 0,8 cm in diameter. Initially, the buds acquire a green tint, and then gradually change their color to blue, with a slightly noticeable white bloom. Inside each cone berry are three seeds that can be used to propagate the plant. For this you need:

1. In autumn, place the seeds of the shrub in a box and leave in a cool place until spring (boxes are allowed to be kept outdoors).
2. Sow seeds in May.

However, decorative juniper is often propagated by cuttings. For this:

1. Cuttings 12 cm long are cut from an adult shrub and the lower coniferous branches are cleaned.
2. They are freed from old wood and left for a day in a solution of water with heteroauxin or any other growth stimulator.
3. After the cuttings are planted in the ground with peat sand – until they take root.
4. Close them with a film and place in the shade. Spray and water regularly.

If a strong and healthy shrub is used for propagation, the results of Blue Carpet cuttings will appear after 45 days, when the development of the root system of young seedlings begins. After 2,5 – 3 months, rooted shrubs should be planted in a permanent place for further wintering.

If necessary, young branches can be transplanted to a new place after 3-4 years, after their final formation.

Pests and diseases of juniper Blue Carpet

1. The most common disease of scaly juniper is rust, which occurs due to basidiomycetes. The disease is characterized by the appearance of growths of a bright orange color on the branches of the shrub. The disease can last from one month to several years: at the same time, the juniper loses its decorative appearance, and the branches begin to dry out gradually, which can lead to the imminent death of the plant. You can correct the situation by spraying the bush with a solution of Arceride – 4 times with an interval of 8 – 10 days.

   

2. Drying of branches. When affected, the juniper bark begins to dry quickly, and numerous small growths of brown and black color form on its surface. The needles of the shrub gradually turn yellow and fall off, and the branches dry out. To prevent this disease, you need to cut off the affected or dry branches in time, as well as periodically disinfect the plant with a 1% solution of copper sulfate.

   

3. Trachiomycosis. The causative agents are fungi of the genus Fusarium. Trachymycosis manifests itself when growing juniper in a humid climate or when water stagnates in the soil. The infection begins to progress in the root system, slowly dispersing along the entire body of the plant. The disease clogs the conductive bundles of the bush, disrupting the transfer of nutrients. The fungus actively spreads through the shrub and leads to its rapid drying. If drying branches are found on the juniper, they must be urgently removed and the plant treated with fungicides. To reduce the risk of disease, young seedlings are disinfected with special preparations: Quadris, Maxim, Fitosporin.

   

The most dangerous pests of Blue Carpet juniper include spider mites, scale insects, aphids, and also mining moths. Treatment with Fitoverma, Decis, Karate and Karbofos solutions will help prevent insect damage to the shrub. Spraying juniper is carried out once a week on a regular basis.

Conclusion

Juniper scaly Blue Carpet is a favorite of designers and gardeners due to its aesthetic appearance, unpretentiousness in care and relatively fast growth. Adhering to the rules of agricultural technology, you can count on not only a spectacular “blue carpet” in the landscape, but a wonderful corner of home aromatherapy and relaxation.

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