Juniper virginian Gray Oul: description

A suburban area cannot be imagined without coniferous plants. But not every conifer can endure the frosty winters. The most cold-resistant is juniper, which can have horizontal miniature forms, grow into a tall tree with stiff and delicate needles. One of the most common varieties, for the cold climate, is Virginian juniper Gray Oul.

Description of juniper Gray Oul

The plant is slow-growing, during the season the shoots grow by 10-15 cm. During growth, the conifer forms a sprawling crown covered with soft smoky blue needles. An adult shrub grows up to 3 m, forming a funnel-shaped crown up to 5 m in diameter.

An evergreen shrub can be grown in all corners of Our Country, since the juniper of the virgin Gray Oul has high winter hardiness, it easily tolerates summer heat and polluted air.

The virgin juniper has a large number of positive qualities:

• early fruiting;
• propagation by cuttings, seeds and taps;
• drought tolerance and frost resistance;
• not picky in care;
• after forming pruning, it retains its crown shape for a long time.

Many gardeners have found negative qualities in virgin juniper:

• slow growth;
• does not tolerate transplant well.

To have an idea about the variety, you must carefully read the description and view the photo of Gray Oul juniper.

Juniper Gray Oul in landscape design

The grade is widely applied to gardening of the seasonal dacha. It is planted to make coniferous compositions or as a separate plant. A decorative appearance of the crown can be created thanks to shaping pruning.

Thanks to a detailed description, anyone can decorate the site with Gray Oul virgin juniper, as the shrub has 4 frost resistance zones.

The evergreen juniper virginian Gray Oul will decorate the garden in summer with light blue needles, in autumn with blue-gray berries, in winter with lilac sprawling shoots.

Planting and caring for juniper Gray Oul

Juniper virginian Gray Oul is an unpretentious variety. It can grow on any soil, under any weather conditions, in a sunny or shady area. But if you create favorable conditions, the shrub will show itself in all its glory and will become an indispensable decoration of the summer cottage. Before buying a sapling of Virginian Gray Oul juniper, you need to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the variety.

Seedling and planting preparation

Gray Oul Virginian juniper sapling must be purchased from nurseries or trusted suppliers. The shrub is sold with an open root system and in containers. When buying a variety, you need to know certain rules:

1. The younger the plant, the faster it adapts to a new place.
2. Seedlings with open roots are planted in spring and autumn, with closed roots – from spring to autumn.
3. The root system should be well developed, without signs of rot and mechanical damage.
4. The needles should have a rich color, with no signs of disease.

Before planting a plant, you must select and prepare a place. Since the variety forms powerful and rapidly growing roots, the place must be allocated a spacious, large area.

The plant in one place can grow up to 50 years and does not tolerate transplantation, so the site is chosen sunny, with well-drained soil. If you plant a plant in the shade, then the juniper virginian Gray Oul will lose its decorative effect. The best soil for planting is sandy loam or loam. If the site has heavy clay soil, it is lightened with peat and river sand before planting.

Virginian juniper tolerates drought well, but in moist soil, the root system quickly rots and the plant dies. Therefore, it is necessary to bypass areas with surface occurrence of groundwater.

Rules of landing

After the seedling has been purchased and a place has been chosen, you can start planting. To do this, dig a landing hole 2 times wider and deeper than the diameter of the earthen coma. The bottom is covered with a 15 cm layer of drainage, complex mineral fertilizers are added, and sprinkled with nutrient soil.

Juniper virginian is installed in the hole so that the root neck is located at ground level. Next, the bush is carefully sprinkled with earth, tamping each layer to prevent the formation of an air cushion. The top layer is compacted and shed abundantly.

Many novice gardeners make mistakes when planting Virginian Gray Oul juniper:

1. Earthball breaking – when the roots are exposed, the plant will take root poorly, development and growth will stop.
2. A small hole for planting – the root system of the virgin juniper is powerful and for rapid growth between the walls of the fossa and the earthy clod, a palm should enter.
3. Deepening the root neck – the plant stops growing and developing, as a result of which it dies.

Juniper virginian Gray Oul is an unpretentious variety. But in order to get a beautiful plant, one should not neglect the basic rules of care: watering, top dressing, shaping and sanitary pruning, loosening and weeding.

Watering and top dressing

Since Virginian juniper Gray Oul is a drought-resistant variety, watering is carried out only in dry summers, once every 30 days. To obtain a sufficient amount of moisture, up to 2 buckets of water are poured under each adult plant. Also, the plant will not refuse weekly spraying in the evening.

For better growth and development, virginian juniper must be fed twice per season. In the spring, nitroammophoska is applied, in the fall, phosphorus-potassium top dressing. In order not to burn the root system, fertilizers are applied in combination with watering.

Mulching and loosening

To ensure oxygen access to the roots and prevent the appearance of an earthen crust, after rains and watering, the earth must be loosened and mulched. Mulch will retain moisture, discourage weed growth, prevent overheating and freezing of the roots, and serve as an additional organic top dressing. As a mulch, peat, sawdust or a coniferous needle is suitable.

Trimming and shaping

Virginian Gray Oul can form a good crown without pruning, but to give the shrub an ornamental look, it needs to be trimmed regularly. Since the plant is slow growing, pruning must be taken very responsibly. Otherwise, in case of an error, the bush will recover its strength for a long time. For juniper Virginia Gray Oul, it is enough to carry out sanitary pruning once a year, removing dry and damaged branches.

Preparation for winter

Virginian Gray Oul is a frost-resistant variety, so it does not need shelter for the winter. Only young seedlings need to be protected from frost. To do this, the shrub must be prepared for the cold:

1. A month before the onset of frost, the bush is abundantly shed and fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.
2. The earth around the plant is covered with spruce branches, and the crown is hidden under the covering material.

Reproduction of juniper virginsky GreyOwl (Grey oul)

Gray Oul can be propagated in 3 ways:

• grafting;
• seeds;
• taps.

Propagation by seeds is a laborious process, it is not for everyone. Therefore, in order to propagate the variety, it is better to use other methods.

Cuttings are an easy and effective method of propagation.

1. In August, lignified, young cuttings are cut.
2. Harvesting is carried out in cloudy weather.
3. The cut is carried out with a sharp, sterile instrument.
4. The stalk is treated with “Kornevin” or “Epin”.
5. Prepared shoots are buried in nutrient soil, shed and cleaned in a warm place. The optimum temperature for the rapid formation of the root system is 16-20 ° C.
6. After the appearance of new foliage, the temperature is raised to 26 ° C.
7. Rooted cuttings are very demanding on watering, so spraying is carried out once a week.
8. A new young plant is planted in a permanent place a year after the roots appear.

Reproduction by taps is the easiest way that does not require additional effort and time.

1. The soil around the bush is carefully loosened and fed.
2. The lower shoot is cleared of needles, laid on the ground and fixed with a metal bracket.
3. The shoot is sprinkled with earth, shed and mulched.
4. In the spring of next year, the rooted seedling is separated from the mother bush and transplanted to a prepared place.

Diseases and pests

The variety is immune to many diseases, but if the agrotechnical rules are not followed, it can become infected with Alternariosis and necrosis. These fungal diseases can be recognized by the black coating on the needles. As a result, it falls off, and the shoots dry up. You can get rid of diseases by treating with a copper-containing drug.

In order not to run into problems, it is necessary to regularly carry out preventive measures:

• loosening and weeding;
• sanitary pruning;
• burning cut branches;
• at the first sign of disease, treat the plant with Fitosporin.

Conclusion

Versatility and unpretentiousness is an ideal characteristic that allows you to grow juniper virginian Gray Ole for landscape design. Thanks to the gray-blue needles, the plant looks great with other conifers, in rose gardens, in flower beds with bright perennials and next to ornamental shrubs.

Reviews of juniper Gray Oul