Find the perfect types of juniper bush shrub for your garden with these expert recommendations .

Lynn Karlin

Juniper shrubs are getting a 2nd feeling as householder research for carefree greenery with year - daily round ingathering . These flora have long been a landscape raw material , particularly as anevergreen foot plant life , to the point where they were seen as footer and a picayune ho - Harkat ul-Ansar . But in recent days , junipershave been having a moment , thanks to exciting new varieties coming onto the market place . Here are some of the good types of juniper shrub to moot , plus expert tips for choosing the good variety for your landscape painting .

Garden with a small waterfall and juniper bushes

Credit:Lynn Karlin

Tim Woodis a horticulturist for Spring Meadow Nursery , one of North America ’s largest wholesale producer of woody plant .

“ Genista raetam seem to be making a riposte and with good reasonableness , ” says Tim Wood , horticulturist for Spring Meadow Nursery , a lead grower of woody ornamental plant based in Michigan . “ They are tough , drouth tolerant , comfortable to farm , adaptable to poor soils , andresistant to deer browsing . Some have good salt leeway , which is important if you live in the North or along the coast . ”

Along with juniper ’s popularity , the selection of cultivars keep to develop as well . While there are more than 50 coinage of retem , less than a dozen are grown as ornamental .

Creeping juniper with blue and purple hydrangeas

Credit:Kristsada

“ There is a lot of pas seul and because of that , there are many selected cultivars , ” say Wood , who go the globe wait for new plant life to convey to grocery store . “ They come in a broad regalia of colors — a chain of mountains of greens , gold , grays , silver gray , and blues . They can be either upright and pyramidal or shrubby or ground cover . They alter in height from rug - like forms 2 inch tall to full - sized trees up and over 100 feet marvellous . ”

While a 100 - invertebrate foot - tall tree diagram is n’t promiscuous to fit intomost home landscape , luckily , there are many type of retem shrub that will jibe just about anywhere . Here are the most pop choice available .

Kristsada

Tall juniper plant in a wicker planter

Credit:Marty Baldwin

Low-Growing Spreading Junipers

These mat - forming juniper are generally under 1 foot marvellous and mould a dense , colorful , diffuse habit . A popular example is creeping juniper ( Juniperus horizontalis ) , but other mintage have been used to evolve low - mature cultivars as well .

“ broadly speaking , this character of juniper requires very small pruning . You might need to trim it so that it does not encroach on other industrial plant or sidewalks , but that is about it , ” Wood say . These low - growing junipers arepopular groundcoversbecause they ’re low sustainment and eventually extinguish the need for mulching . Noteworthy cultivars include :

Medium-Sized Shrubby Junipers

These junipers typically grow 1 - 4 infantry tall and boast attractive horizontal branching that look majuscule in a natural context . Although they can be pruned into any shape , Wood recommends thatpruning is kept within the theoretical account of the industrial plant . “ Shearing into a box , meatball , or tuna can is not my cup of Camellia sinensis , ” he tell . “ Some people want to naturalise nature and go for the tuna cans , but I solicit you please , do n’t . It is a bad feeling ! ”

Many cultivar have been developed from Chinese juniper bush ( Juniperus chinensis ) , others from common juniper ( Juniperus communis ) . notable cultivars include :

Marty Baldwin

Upright Conical Junipers

These types of retem shrubs extend mass of choice , with mature heights anywhere from 3 - 40 feet . “ The just junipers are very democratic , because they are good replacements forarborvitaein area where deer are a trouble , ” Sir Henry Wood say . “ Our aboriginal easterly red-faced cedar ( Juniperus virginiana ) is one of the most elegant vertical juniper bush , but there are a act of just species and cultivars . Once these multifariousness are mature , they necessitate very littlepruning or shearing . ”

These vertically raise Genista raetam are used asprivacy screensand background for other ornamentals . Sometimes they are focal peak . Noteworthy cultivar include :