Peculiarities

Juniper belongs to the Cypress family. Its other name is veres or archa. Today it is known about the existence of approximately seven dozen species of this plant, belonging to the genus of evergreen trees or shrubs.

Creeping species grow in the highlands of Nepal, India, Pakistan, and the tree form can be seen in the Mediterranean, North America and central Asia. The life of juniper is from 600 to 3000 years. Its height can reach 15 meters. Below we consider the description of juniper.

The most common shrub form has the appearance of a bush 1-3 meters high with an upright branched trunk. The color of the bark depends on age — in young plants it is terracotta in color, in old plants it is brown. The leaves are needle-shaped or scaly-shaped, collected in whorls.

The main feature is hard and sharp needles, the length of which can reach 1 cm. The juniper begins to bear fruit for 2-3 years. The fruits are initially green, and when ripe, they become blue-black. Their size ranges from 5 to 10 mm in diameter.

The flowering time is May, and the ripening time of cones is September, October. Juniper berries are considered medicinal and are widely used in medicine.

Kinds

To date, there are approximately 75 types of juniper, most of which are used in landscape design.

Common juniper has been described above. Therefore, we will not dwell on it. Consider the following most common types of juniper:

Cossack. Place of growth — Crimea, Carpathians. Poisonous. Only external use is possible. Healing infusions are made from fruits and branches for the treatment of affected skin areas. Pretty useful douching. In powder form, it is used for sprinkling wounds, ulcers, etc. lesions.

Crimean. It combines 5 species that can be found on the Crimean peninsula — Cossack, ordinary, prickly, smelly, tall. Usually, prickly juniper berries are used for harvesting. Oil is squeezed out of them, which is used both for medical and cosmetic purposes. They also have diuretic and antihelminthic effects. Other species are valuable for their wood.

Also quite popular are Chinese juniper, scaly, medium, Verginsky, horizontal, rocky.

How to choose seedlings

The quality of the seedling itself has a significant impact on how successfully the shrub takes root. When buying material for planting, the following nuances should be considered:

• Refrain from buying a seedling with open roots.
• It is better to give preference to a plant in a container or with a clod of earth wrapped in non-woven material.
• The current growth of branches and roots should be visible.
• It is important that there are no cracks or any other damage on the trunk.
• The new growth must be flexible and not break.
• The color of the leaves must be uniform, without spots.
• It is advisable to purchase seedlings that were originally grown in pots.

Landing Rules

Planting juniper should be done in the spring. Large bushes should be placed 1.5-2 meters apart, and small bushes — 0.5 meters apart. The depth of the planting hole is affected by the volume of the earthy coma of a young plant. She must exceed it by 2-3 times.

Half a month before the start of planting work, it is necessary to make a drainage 15-20 cm thick in the pit, using sand and broken bricks. Next, you need to fill it 2/3 with a mixture of earth, sand and peat in proportions of 1 to 1 to 2 and 0.2 kg of nitroammophoska.

After the soil settles, and this usually happens after two weeks, planting can begin. As soon as the seedling is planted, it must be watered and then mulched with peat or sawdust.

Care instructions

Caring for a juniper shrub is quite easy. Every year in the spring, juniper needs top dressing with nitroammophos at the rate of 50 g per m². It is permissible to use other fertilizers, but this should be done no more than 1 time per month.

Remember that manure should never be used as top dressing. This can lead to burning of the roots and death of the plant. In addition, juniper does not tolerate loosening the soil, as it can damage the roots and disrupt the nutrition of the shrub.

This plant is drought tolerant. In dry weather, systematic watering is necessary. Juniper is a fan of spraying, its leaves need to be moistened with a spray bottle every 10 days. This should be done either early in the morning or late in the evening.

Speaking of a haircut, this plant does not require it. Only at the beginning of spring and autumn should all dry and withered branches be cut. The exception is live fences. They must be trimmed regularly.

Juniper tolerates cold well, but annual plantings must be covered with burlap or a special film for the winter. As can be seen from the photo of the juniper, if the shrub has spreading branches, then it is better to tie them up with twine before the onset of winter frosts.

Medicinal properties

Juniper improves appetite, heals wounds well, fights inflammation well, perfectly cleanses the blood. It also has a calming, diuretic, disinfectant and analgesic effect. Healing properties are possessed not only by berries, but also by needles along with roots.

Juniper is associated with coniferous forests. It disinfects and purifies the air, and has many other amazing qualities. It will undoubtedly become a decoration of your site.

juniper photo