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Many people would like to decorate a summer cottage or house territory with evergreen coniferous shrubs. One possible option in this case may be juniper. This plant not only has a beautiful decorative appearance, but also has a lot of useful properties. Planting and caring for juniper is not difficult? and even the most inexperienced gardener can cope with them.
When to plant juniper
Juniper seedlings are grown and sold, as a rule, in special containers filled with nutrient soil. Their age at the time of planting should be 3-4 years. Such seedlings can be planted in open ground in spring, from the beginning of April to the end of May. A good period for planting juniper is autumn, the period from early September to late October. However, at this time it is possible to plant seedlings only with a buried root system.
Later dates are undesirable, since the shrub may not have time to acclimatize in a new place and die in winter. Planting juniper in the summer is also undesirable.
Where to plant juniper
Most often, juniper is grown in the garden, using it as an element of landscape design. Tree-like varieties are planted along paths and alleys, dwarf and creeping varieties are used in the design of alpine hills, rockeries, juniper plantings are used to strengthen slopes and embankments.
Is it possible to plant juniper near the house
On the south side of the house, juniper bushes will feel relatively good. In such a place, sunlight is enough for them, and the building will protect them from the cold north wind. When planting a juniper near the house, the dimensions of the future shrub should be taken into account. Some tree species can reach significant sizes, both in height and in volume, so planting them right next to the house is undesirable.
Some gardeners are afraid to plant juniper next to housing because of its toxicity. Indeed, all species of this shrub, with the exception of the common juniper, are poisonous to one degree or another. However, poisoning can occur only when some parts of the tree are ingested, for example, its berries. Irritation can also occur when juniper resin comes into contact with exposed skin. Nevertheless, if you follow elementary precautions when planting, these bushes can be grown near the house quite calmly, including their most poisonous (but also the most decorative) variety – Cossack juniper.
Where is the best place to plant juniper on the site
Juniper is photophilous, it does not like shade and grows well only in the sun or in light partial shade. In the wild, it grows in pure coniferous and mixed forests, on clearings, forest roads, edges and clearings, that is, where it has enough sunlight. Therefore, for its landing, you should look for an open, clean place. It is permissible to plant shrubs in places where the sun is present for most of the daylight hours. If the bush feels a lack of sunlight, its crown will be loose and the color faded.
What to plant next to juniper
Juniper bushes can be planted both independently and in a group with other plants. Juniper compatibility is good and it tolerates the neighborhood with other plants calmly. For ornamental purposes, it is often planted next to other large conifers, such as fir or pine. Roses, peonies and clematis coexist well with this evergreen shrub, but they need to be planted at some distance. As part of flower arrangements, bulbs are often planted nearby: tulips, daffodils, hyacinths.
When decorating alpine slides, rockeries or Japanese-style gardens, creeping varieties of juniper go well with heathers of different colors. Such a composition looks very advantageous against the background of stones and large pebbles. You can supplement it with dwarf spruce or weeping larch.
How to plant a juniper
There is nothing difficult in planting juniper in open ground and caring for it. Ready-made seedlings can be bought in specialized stores or nurseries. They are sold, as a rule, in special individual containers filled with nutrient soil. When planting, the seedling is removed along with a clod of earth. At the same time, the nutrition of the roots is not disturbed, and the plant experiences much less stress when planting in open ground. The site preparation technology and a step-by-step description of the juniper planting process in spring are given below.
Soil preparation for juniper and planting site
In most cases, the soil on the plot will not be ideal in composition for planting juniper. Different types of this shrub react differently to the acidity of the soil. For example, Virginian prefers clayey acidic soils, while Central Asian varieties or Cossack feel better on calcareous soils, and Siberian or Daurian will grow only on sand.
Moisture-loving Chinese and common junipers are best planted next to natural reservoirs. However, excess moisture is contraindicated for any variety of this shrub. In wetlands, where water stagnates after rain or in spring, it is better to refuse planting. The soil should be loose, well-drained and moderately moist.
As a universal option for planting seedlings, you can prepare a special soil that will fill the planting pit. To prepare it, you will need coarse-grained river sand, soddy soil and peat. All components are taken in equal proportions and mixed. It is preferable to take the land from under an adult juniper or from under any coniferous tree.
Planting holes should be dug a few weeks before the planned planting date. A layer of drainage 15-20 cm thick is necessarily laid out at the bottom. Pieces of rubble or fragments of bricks are quite suitable for this purpose. On top of the drainage, you can pour a little nutrient soil and leave the pits in this form until planting. During this time, the earth will be saturated with air, and the loose soil will settle.
How to plant a juniper
Half an hour before planting, the container with the seedling must be poured with water so that the soil is completely saturated. After that, it will not be difficult to remove the bush along with a clod of earth on the roots. The seedling is placed in a pit, pouring soil in such a way that the root neck is slightly above ground level. After the soil shrinks after watering, it will be just at the right level. It is impossible to deepen the root neck into the ground. The remaining space in the planting pit is covered with soil mixture, periodically compacting it. After the pit is completely filled, the root zone of the juniper must be poured with water, and then mulched with needles, bark or sawdust.
Such a measure will protect young seedlings from dogs who are very fond of marking coniferous trees. Animal urine has a sharp alkaline reaction and can completely destroy immature plants.
Informative video about planting and caring for juniper in the garden – at the link below
Distance when planting junipers
Juniper can only reach significant sizes in the wild. In garden conditions, even tree-like varieties rarely grow above 3-3,5 m. So that the crowns of neighboring plants do not compete with each other, the distance between them when planting should be at least 1,5-2 m. For low bush forms and creeping species, it is enough distances 0,5-1 m.
How to transplant juniper to another place
If for some reason the bush needs to be transplanted to a new place, then this can only be done at a young age. Adult plants tolerate this procedure much worse. A juniper transplant can be done in spring or autumn, the main thing is to keep an earthen ball of sufficient size on the roots.
Preparation for transplantation must begin a year before the planned work. The earth around the trunk at a distance of 40-50 cm must be bayoneted in a circle, cutting off the surface roots. Such a measure will give impetus to the development of a large number of small roots that will help hold the ground. And also in advance it is necessary to take care of the planting pits, the volume of which must be guaranteed to accommodate the earthen clod of the transplanted plant.
For transplanting choose a cloudy cool day. The bush is dug in from all sides, after which it is carefully removed from the ground, trying to preserve the earthen ball on the roots as much as possible. It is best to transfer the plant to a new planting site on a piece of dense fabric, such as a tarp. Such a load will have a significant weight, so it is not recommended to transplant a large juniper alone.
After the bush is installed in the planting hole, all the same measures are carried out with it as when planting a young seedling. After a spring transplant, the juniper must be shaded to reduce moisture loss. If the procedure was carried out in the fall, the transplanted bush must be watered regularly, and before the onset of cold weather, cover the root zone with a thick layer of mulch. This will avoid physiological drought – a condition when the plant evaporates more moisture than the root system supplies. Such a problem may occur in a plant in the first spring after transplantation. At this time, the damaged root system of the shrub will not yet be able to provide the plant with moisture, and the bright spring sun will intensively evaporate it from the needles. If this happens, then the juniper will simply dry out.
How to care for juniper in the country
Juniper is not a plant that requires constant care. For this, he is loved by many lovers of ornamental gardening. Often this shrub retains its decorative appearance for a long time even without any intervention from the gardener. However, certain measures for the care of juniper in the country after planting will not be superfluous. These include:
- watering;
- top dressing;
- loosening;
- mulching;
- shelter for the winter.
Usually juniper is not covered for the winter. The only exceptions are heat-loving species, as well as plants, from the moment of planting or transplanting which a year has not passed. In addition to them, shelters are also built around plants with a decorative crown to prevent damage to branches under the weight of snow or burnout of needles from the bright spring sun.
How to water juniper
It is not necessary to do regular watering of juniper. It will be enough several times during the summer, and even then only in the hot dry period. These shrubs are very negative about waterlogging the soil, but they respond well to crown spraying. Sprinkling cleans the stomata, while the plant begins to emit a more distinct coniferous smell.
Spraying can be done only in the early morning or late evening, so that the plant has time to dry out before the sun appears. Otherwise, sunlight focused by drops of water can burn the needles very badly.
Additional fertilizing
The easiest way to give the juniper everything it needs for growth and development after planting is to add a dissolved complex fertilizer to the root zone in the spring, such as Kemira-Universal, Khvoinka or Green Needle. There is no need to feed the plants with anything else, especially if soil preparation was carried out during planting and mineral fertilizers were applied.
Loosening and mulching
The root zone of the juniper after planting must be cleaned of weeds and loosened regularly. Otherwise, the plant will look messy. Mulch eliminates the need to constantly clean the near-stem circles from weeds and significantly increases the decorativeness of the planting as a whole. In addition to the aesthetic component, mulching significantly reduces the evaporation of moisture from the soil.
As mulch, you can use tree bark, softwood sawdust, peat. The layer of such material must be increased before the winter cold. This will protect the juniper root system from freezing.
Juniper pruning in spring and summer
Pruning junipers in the spring is not a mandatory care measure, but experienced gardeners never neglect this procedure. She is able to heal the bush, rejuvenate it, give it a more decorative look. There are several types of juniper pruning:
- sanitary;
- formative;
- thinning.
Sanitary pruning is done throughout the season. In spring and autumn, it is imperative to inspect the shrub and cut out broken, dry, diseased and damaged branches. In some cases, it is necessary to do this in the summer, eliminating the consequences, for example, of unintentional mechanical damage to the bushes. The juniper pruning scheme in spring is very simple. In addition to sanitary cleaning, at a young age, the crown is formed and thinned for better air exchange. Tree-like varieties with a narrow crown are also pruned in summer, keeping the shrub from growing, as well as maintaining its shape and dimensions.
When pruning shrubs, it is necessary to carry out all work with gloves. Resin that gets on exposed areas of the body can cause painful skin irritation. It is also necessary to carry out work in overalls, since things stained with resin are very difficult to wash off. It is very important to use a sharp tool, as even, smooth cuts tighten much faster. All cutting edges must be disinfected with an alcohol-containing liquid or copper sulfate solution. The same solution is recommended to treat open sections. After they dry, they need to be painted over with natural-based oil paint.
Protection against diseases and pests
Diseases and pests often attack juniper. Shrubs in the southern regions are especially susceptible to this. Among the diseases most often noted are the following:
- Shutte juniper (brown mold);
- fusariosis;
- rust;
- shrinkage of shoots.
All these diseases are fungal and are associated, first of all, with violations in care, waterlogging, thickening of plantings. And also the cause of the disease may be poor-quality planting material. To protect the garden, seedlings must be carefully inspected, and suspected to be rejected.
Of the insect pests, the following are the most dangerous for juniper:
- aphid;
- shield;
- mining moth;
- needle tick;
- angled moth.
The best way to prevent the appearance of pests on the juniper is a regular thorough inspection of the shrub. It is very important to detect a colony of insects at an early stage, then the harm from their appearance will be minimal. When juniper pests are detected, it is necessary to treat the plantings with appropriate means (insecticides, acaricides). A good result is also given by periodic spraying of the crown with folk remedies: infusions of dandelion, nettle, tobacco or garlic.
Conclusion
Planting and caring for a juniper takes up very little time on the seasonal gardening calendar. This evergreen coniferous shrub is a real long-liver among plants and is able to decorate a site for tens or even hundreds of years. Therefore, despite the fact that he is rather unpretentious, you should not treat him on the principle of “growing and okay.” Just a little care, and the juniper will reveal itself in all its glory, giving not only aesthetic pleasure, but also healing the atmosphere around the house.