Common juniper

Common juniper: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Evergreen shrub or small tree of 1–10 m, narrowly columnar or broad and bushy, sometimes multi-stemmed.

Needles

1–2 cm, very sharp, in whorls of 3, with a single broad white stripe on the upper side.

Bark

Red-brown, peeling in long strips.

Cones

Male and female plants are separate: only female shrubs bear globular berry-like cones 5–9 mm, green at first, blue-black and bloomy after 2–3 years.

Difference from ornamental junipers

Ornamental junipers in gardens often also have scale-like leaves.

Harvest and fruit: September–November · Pruning: May–June

Identify by feature: Prickly needles · Blue berries

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Ornamental junipers in gardens: often also have scale-like leaves.

Why grow it?

• A native heathland shrub that has become rare: with a juniper in your garden you help the species.
• Evergreen and often narrow: it fits a small, sunny garden too.
• Tolerates drought, wind and poor sandy soil.
• The berries are winter food for thrushes, and you can use them in the kitchen yourself.

Common juniper: where does it grow best?

• Full sun: in shade it goes bare and dies back from the inside.
• Poor, well-drained soil, preferably sandy, but chalky soil is fine too; no waterlogging and no rich, fertilised soil.
• Free of competition: don’t let larger shrubs or trees grow over it.
• Lovely in a heather garden, a gravel garden or a dry, sunny border.

Light

Full sun

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Dry

Size

6 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Heather: Together the image of the Campine heathland: heather flowers purple in August–September around the dark shrub.
• Broom: Yellow flowers in May on the same dry, sunny, sandy soil.
• Garden thyme: A low, fragrant ground cover for a dry, sunny spot, loved by bees.

Common juniper: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from a pot in March–April or September–October.
2. Choose plants of native origin (local provenance): that is the best way to help the wild juniper.
3. If you want berries, plant a small group: you need a male and a female shrub.
4. Don’t add compost or manure to the planting hole; open up heavy soil with sand.
5. Water in dry spells during the first summer; after that, not at all.

Care

Watering

Only in the first summer; after that it copes even in dry summers.

Feeding

Don’t: a juniper belongs on poor soil.

Keeping it clear

Keep grasses, brambles and seedlings around the shrub short, so light reaches right down to the base.

Harvesting

In autumn, pick only the blue-black berries (in your own garden) and dry them; leave the green ones on the shrub.

Tip: Plant a small group of junipers rather than a single shrub: it looks more natural, and with male and female plants you will get berries. Ask the nursery for plants of both sexes.

Common juniper: when to prune it?

Pruning months: May–June.

When: Light shaping in May–June.

How:

• Trim lightly: just the tips of the young shoots, to keep the shrub dense and in shape.
• Remove dead branches back to a healthy green side shoot.
• Preferably let a free-standing juniper grow as it likes: its natural shape is the most beautiful.

Caution: Never cut into bare wood, because no new shoots will grow from it.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

In August–October, take 10 cm semi-ripe cuttings with a heel and root them in sandy soil in a cold frame. A cutting has the same sex as the parent plant.

Sowing

Sow the seeds from ripe berries outdoors in autumn; they germinate slowly and erratically, often only after two winters.

Common juniper: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• Shake heavy snow off columnar shrubs: otherwise the branches splay apart.
• The berries hang on for a long time and are winter food for thrushes.

Diseases and pests

• Going bare: Brown, bare patches caused by shade, competition or pruning too hard. Bare parts won’t regrow: give the shrub more light and only trim in the green.
• Root rot: On wet or heavy soil the shrub turns brown and dies. Only plant it on well-drained soil.
• Red spider mite: In hot, dry summers, dull, yellowing needles with fine webbing. Hose the shrub down with water.
• Browsing: Rabbits and deer nibble young plants. Protect them with wire mesh for the first few years.

Through the year

• March: Plant from a pot (March–April).
• April: Keep grasses and seedlings around the shrub short.
• May: Light shaping (May–June), only in the green.
• June: Last month for shaping; water young plants in dry spells.
• August: Take cuttings (August–October).
• September: Planting season starts (September–October).
• October: Pick ripe blue-black berries in your own garden.
• December: Shake heavy snow off columnar shrubs.

What can you use it for?

Food and drink

The berries flavour jenever, gin, sauerkraut and game dishes.

For wildlife

A heathland species that has become rare; the berries are winter food for thrushes.

Caution: Protected in nature reserves: don’t pick berries or branches there.

Edible and useful

Berries (September–November)

Only the ripe, blue-black berries with their pale bloom, from female bushes. They take two or three years to ripen, so green and ripe berries hang side by side. They taste resinous and spicy: use them as a spice in sauerkraut, red cabbage, game, marinades and brines, or for home-made gin. Crush them just before use; 4 to 8 berries are enough for a dish.

Storing

Dry the berries for a few weeks somewhere airy until they wrinkle slightly, then keep them in a tightly closed jar. They stay aromatic for a year or more.

Fermenting

Juniper berries are a classic in sauerkraut, adding a fine, spicy aroma to the lactic fermentation.

Caution: Only use common juniper (Juniperus communis), with sharp, awl-shaped needles in whorls of three. Other garden junipers, such as savin (Juniperus sabina) with scale-like leaves, are poisonous. In the wild, juniper is rare and protected: only pick from your own bush. Use the berries as a spice, in small amounts, and not during pregnancy or if you have kidney problems. Never eat anything you have not identified with certainty.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Sauerkraut with juniper (Fermentation · 1 one-litre jar · 45 min + 3–6 weeks fermenting)
• Home-made gin (Liqueur · 0.5 litre · 10 min + 2 days steeping)
• Venison stew with juniper berries and dark beer (Dish · 4 servings · 30 min + 2½ hrs stewing)
• Apple and juniper chutney (Other · ± 4 jars of 250 ml · 20 min + 1 hr cooking)

Good for wildlife

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• The berries give genever and gin their flavour. On the heaths of the Campine region the species has become rare.
• The Dutch word ‘jenever’ comes from the juniper, and the English ‘gin’ in turn is derived from jenever.
• A berry takes 2–3 years to ripen: that is why green and blue-black berries hang on the same shrub at the same time.
• The Dutch word jenever comes via French from the Latin juniperus, and ‘gin’ is in turn an English shortening of genever.
• Perhaps no other woody plant has a larger range: juniper grows right around the North Pole, in North America, Europe and Asia.