When gardening personal plots, Chinese juniper has proven itself well, owing its name to a wide growing area that extends to China, Japan and North Korea. Representatives of the species came to Europe only in the 19th century, which, however, did not prevent the evergreens from quickly gaining widespread recognition.

Juniper Chinese: description of species and varieties

Slow-growing species belonging to the genus of junipers, characterized by a variety of forms - trees, shrubs and ground cover plants. Graceful branches are covered with dark green needles, and the color of the bark changes with age from green to light brown tones. Depending on the variety, the needles can be either needle or scaly. The color of spherical or cone-shaped cones varies from blue to black.

Among the most famous varieties that breeders have been working on for more than one year are:

  • Stricta. Juniper Chinese "Stricta" is represented by shrubs with densely growing in the vertical direction shoots, covered with green needles with a blue tint. The variety stands out for its excellent frost resistance.
  • "Plumeza Aurea" is one of the most attractive varieties with yellow needles, which is characterized by short stature and shoots growing vertically upwards.
  • "Monarch" is a shrub with an asymmetric cone-shaped or pin-shaped crown up to 2.5 m tall. The needles exude a pleasant aroma and have a bluish-green color.A distinctive characteristic of the variety is its undemanding to the fertile soil layer.
  • Blue Alps. The variety is represented by compact plants with powerful, drooping shoots, covered with prickly, needle-like needles of a bluish tint. Their height can reach 4.5 m. The frost-resistant variety is ideal for the formation of hedges, which are an insurmountable fence.
  • "Obelisk" is a variety represented by medium-tall shrubs with a columnar crown of an asymmetric shape.
  • "Curvoa Gold". The variety is represented by fairly tall plants up to 2 m in height with a spreading, asymmetric crown of golden-green color. Light-loving representatives easily put up with the gas content of urban air.

Outdoor landing

To choose the right place and soil for planting a crop, you need to learn about how Chinese juniper grows in the garden.

Lighting and soil requirements

Representatives of the species feel good in sunny areas with loose soil of a neutral or slightly acidic reaction.

Juniper is not demanding on the composition of soils.

When preparing a site for digging, it is enough to add peat and sand, which will improve friability and drainage quality.

When and how to plant?

The timing of landing of planting material depends on the state of the root system:

  • With an open root system, the time of planting seedlings is limited: it can be carried out only in April-May or in September, always in the evening and in moist soil.
  • In the case of a closed rhizome located in a container, planting operations can be carried out throughout the season.

Planting seedlings is carried out according to the following scheme:

  1. Landing pits are dug up to a depth of 70 cm and an interval of 0.5 to 2 m, depending on the diameter of the crown.
  2. At the bottom is placed a drain of broken brick with a layer of 15 cm.
  3. Saplings with a moistened earthen lump are immersed in a pit, which is filled with a substrate of peat, turf soil and sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1.
  4. The final stage is abundant hydration of the culture.

Important! If the seedling is with an open root system, then the latter is kept in a solution of a growth stimulator.

Chinese Juniper Care

If you carefully take care of juniper, observing the basic agricultural requirements, then the site will be decorated all year round with evergreens with beautiful and fragrant needles.

Irrigation Activities

The key to the full development and preservation of the decorativeness of Asian conifers is the competent organization of the irrigation regime.

When choosing a method of watering, preference should be given to weekly sprinkling, since Chinese juniper negatively reacts to dry air.

Fertilizing and fertilizers

Despite the undemanding nature of many representatives of the species for soil fertility, to maintain the beauty of the crown of the conifer, it is recommended that three times during the active growing season, complex mineral fertilizers be added to the trunk circle.

Cutting scheme and technology

The beautiful shape of the crown is inherent in juniper from nature. However, if the gardener wants to give the plant a more spectacular look, it is best to do this in the fall. In spring, sanitary pruning is carried out, in which frozen and diseased branches are completely removed.

How to care in winter?

Chinese juniper is winter hardy, so before the onset of cold weather it is recommended to cover only young plants that have not reached the age of three. As a covering material, mulch from peat or sawdust, as well as spruce spruce branches, are used.

Protection against diseases and pests

The greatest danger for Chinese juniper is shute and rust, which inexperienced gardeners take for seasonal changes in the color of needles. When a disease is detected, the conifer is treated with a copper-containing fungicide.

Among the pests on the culture, there are such sucking insects as aphids, scabies and spider mites, which should be controlled by spraying with an insecticide solution according to the instructions indicated on the manufacturer's packaging.

Bush propagation

The most popular method of propagation, allowing to maintain varietal qualities, is cuttings in late spring.

During the procedure:

  1. From adult specimens, whose age is 8 - 10 years, cuttings 12 cm long are cut.
  2. Places of cuts are processed by crushed charcoal.
  3. Planting material is aged in a growth stimulator for about a day.
  4. Cuttings are buried in a mixture of peat and sand by 5 cm, after which they are covered with bottles.
  5. Rooted specimens are planted in open ground, where for the winter they are warmed with fir spruce branches with preliminary mulching of the trunk circle.
  6. Young specimens are transplanted to a permanent place of growth after 1 year.

Juniper Chinese in landscape design

Due to the variety of forms, the variety is very popular in the design of squares, park areas, courtyards of administrative buildings, as well as personal plots.

Ephedra are used for:

  • decorating lawns using single and group plantings;
  • hillside landings;
  • the formation of evergreen hedges;
  • creating an accent in flower-shrub compositions;
  • registration of rock gardens or rockeries.

So, the main reasons that the Chinese juniper has taken one of the leading positions in greening the territories have become the undemanding culture, simple planting and care, as well as excellent decorative qualities, which are not negatively affected by the gas pollution of the city air.

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