Creeping juniper

Creeping juniper: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Flat, creeping conifer, 20–30 cm tall and 2 m or more wide, with long trailing branches.

Foliage

Fine and scale-like, partly needle-like on young plants; blue-green, grey-green or green, often tinted purple or bronze in winter.

Cones

Female plants carry small, blue, bloomy berry-like cones; male plants do not.

Scent

Crushed shoots smell resinous, typical of juniper.

Roots

Deep and strong; trailing branches often root where they touch the ground.

Plants: April–May and September–October · Pruning: May

Why grow it?

• Green or blue-green all year: a dense carpet that smothers weeds.
• Extremely hardy and drought-tolerant once well established.
• Ideal for covering banks, low walls and edges; the branches drape beautifully over a wall.
• Tolerates poor, sandy and chalky soil, and wind too.
• Practically no maintenance: no pruning or feeding needed.

Creeping juniper: where does it grow best?

• Full sun; in shade it becomes thin and bare.
• Free-draining soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky; poor soil is no problem.
• Dry to normally moist; it dislikes waterlogged roots.
• Ideal on a sunny bank, in a rock garden, over a low wall or in a gravel garden.
• Plant 1–1.5 m apart for a closed carpet after a few years.

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

0.3 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -40 °C)

Goes well with

• Stonecrop: Cushions and late-summer flowers in the same dry, sunny spot.
• Thyme: Low, fragrant and just as fond of sun and drought.
• Blue fescue: Blue tufts that go well with a blue-green juniper.
• Lavender: Summer flowers and grey foliage beside the green carpet.
• Crocus: Spring colour at the edge of the carpet.

Creeping juniper: when and how to plant it?

Plant in April–May and September–October.

1. Plant in April–May or September–October, when the ground is neither frozen nor bone dry.
2. First remove all perennial weeds, such as couch grass and ground elder: once the juniper covers the ground, they are very hard to get out.
3. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball; on heavy clay mix in coarse grit or gravel.
4. Set the plant at the same depth as it was in the pot, no deeper, and firm the soil well.
5. Leave 1–1.5 m between plants.
6. Water generously straight away and regularly in dry spells during the first year; a layer of gravel or bark between the plants keeps weeds down until the carpet closes.

Care

Watering

Only in the first year during dry spells; after that it copes even in dry summers.

Feeding

Not needed; too much fertiliser makes growth soft.

Weeding

For the first few years, weed between the plants until the carpet has closed.

Fallen leaves

Rake fallen leaves off the plant: under a wet layer of leaves it can turn brown.

Trampling

Do not walk on the carpet: the branches break and turn brown.

Tip: Plant it in full sun and remove all perennial weeds first. Only prune into green wood: it will not regrow from old, bare branches.

Creeping juniper: when to prune it?

Pruning months: May.

When: Hardly needed. If necessary, prune lightly in May, as new growth begins.

How:

• Cut overlong branches back to beneath another branch so the cut stays hidden.
• Only cut into green, scaly wood.
• Remove dead, brown branches completely, back to healthy wood.
• If it gets too wide, trim a little every year rather than a lot at once.

Caution: Never cut into old, bare wood: no new shoots will grow from it and a bare patch will remain.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Layering

The easiest method: trailing branches often root by themselves. In spring, peg a branch into the soil and cover it with earth; sever it after a year and replant it.

Cuttings

In September–October, take 10–15 cm heeled cuttings and root them in a mix of sand and compost in a cold frame. They root slowly, often not until the following spring.

Creeping juniper: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −40 °C.

• One of the hardiest conifers, to about −40 °C: no protection is ever needed in Belgium.
• Many forms turn purple or bronze in winter and become green or blue again in spring. This is normal.
• It copes well with a thick layer of snow.
• In a pot or trough it is also hardy; just make sure drainage is good.

Diseases and pests

• Bare patches: Caused by shade, by pruning into old wood or by trampling. Give it full sun and only prune into green wood.
• Brown shoots: Dying shoots, often in spring, caused by a fungus, by drought or by dog urine. Cut them back to healthy wood and dispose of them.
• Spider mite: Dull, greyish or yellow-brown foliage with fine webbing, mainly in hot, dry summers and against warm walls. Hose the plant down.
• Root rot: The whole plant turns brown and dies on wet, heavy soil. Plant in free-draining soil.

Through the year

• January: Purple winter tint. Nothing to do.
• March: Remove fallen leaves and dead shoots.
• April: Plant. Remove perennial weeds first.
• May: Plant. Light pruning into green wood if needed.
• June: Weed between young plants.
• July: Watch for spider mite in dry weather. Water young plants.
• August: Water young plants in dry spells.
• September: Plant. Take cuttings.
• October: Plant. Take cuttings.
• November: Rake fallen leaves off the carpet.
• December: The winter colour appears.

Did you know?

• Juniper berries are not true berries but cones with fleshy, fused scales.
• The berries used for genever and gin come from common juniper, Juniperus communis, not from this species.
• There are separate male and female plants: only the females carry ‘berries’.