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Juniper scaly Blue Carpet is a coniferous evergreen plant. Translated from English, blue carpet means "blue carpet": this name was given to the shrub due to the densely spreading branches on the ground with needles of a silvery-blue color and dark blue berries. Under natural conditions, it is most often found on mountain slopes in China and Taiwan. The article presents a description and photo of the scaly juniper Blue Carpet (blue carpet), the basic rules for planting and caring for a plant, options for its use in landscape design.
Description of Blue Carpet Juniper
The scaly juniper Blue Carpet (juniperus squamata blue carpet) was first bred by Dutch breeders in 1972, and five years later the plant received recognition and a gold medal at a specialized international exhibition for its unique highly decorative properties. The culture is well adapted for growing in the climatic conditions of the European part of Russia.
The Blue Carpet Juniper is a ground-creeping shrub that forms dense green thickets. In total, botany has more than 70 species of this plant, each of which has its own characteristics.
The distinctive features of the Blue Carpet variety are considered to be tough blue shoots and soft scaly needles. Its hard branches grow horizontally and densely, slightly rising from the bottom above the ground. At the end of summer, fruits appear on the plant - small cones of blue color, outwardly resembling berries. This bush fruit has a spicy aroma and a very bitter taste.
Height of juniper scaly Blue Carpet
In the tenth year, the plant reaches an average of 30 cm in height and 2 m in width, and in adulthood - up to 80 cm and 6 m, respectively. The length of the thorny needles of the bush is 6 mm.
Among the varieties of scaly juniper, the representatives of Blue Carpet are among the most compact: from the smallest - Skuamata Blue Carpet (up to 50 cm) - and to the highest - Blue Carpet Bonsai (up to 1.6 m).
Winter hardiness of scaly juniper Blue Carpet
Juniper Blue Carpet has a fairly high level of frost resistance, but it needs careful care in winter: the unopened needles of a plant can be negatively affected by wind and frost. This can lead to its freezing: an ugly brown tint appears on the branches, and the shrub dies in a short time. Therefore, in winter, the plant should be protected with a covering material.
Growth rate of scaly juniper Blue Carpet
Juniper is a perennial plant with an average lifespan of 250 - 300 years. In proportion to the duration of life, the growth of the shrub is fast: it stretches up to 5 - 7 years, 8 - 10 cm per year.
The location of the shrub also affects the growth rate: it is a light-loving plant, and the smallest darkening can affect its appearance and development. Adequate soil fertilization also has a positive effect on growth.
Blue Carpet Juniper Smell
Scaly juniper is characterized by a somewhat sharp, but rather pleasant coniferous aroma.The scent of the bush is considered to be healing: it is able to stimulate and strengthen the work of the nervous system, soothe headaches, heal respiratory diseases, hypertension, and also prevent insomnia. The phytoncides secreted by the plant help purify the air of pathogens and bacteria.
Juniper Blue Carpet in landscape design
Blue Carpet is a favorite variety of gardeners and landscape designers, since it is quite unpretentious and flexible to care for. The shrub easily adapts to pruning and regenerates quickly, forming an even denser crown layer. Due to its highly decorative properties, the plant is often used to decorate parks, gardens and squares. Therefore, photos of the scaly juniper Blue Carpet are often found on landscape design sites.
- With the help of the Blue Carpet variety, single groups are created against the background of the lawn. The disadvantage of such a composition is the technical difficulty of mowing the area of the lawn around the juniper due to the creeping branches of the bush.
- Scaly juniper is great for combining with flowering annuals. The correct calculation of the distance between plant species is important in order to ensure that everyone has full growth and development.
- The creeping form of the Blue Carpet variety is excellent for decorating slopes and makes it possible to use the juniper as a ground cover plant. It is organic in the design of alpine slides, as well as flat rockeries. Some designers use juniper to decorate the shores of garden ponds.
Juniper Blue Carpet serves as an indispensable plant in urban landscaping, as it has a fairly high level of resistance to the polluted air of the city and lends itself well to artistic shaping. It is also often used as a container culture.
Planting and caring for Blue Carpet juniper
Care and planting of Blue Carpet juniper bushes are not particularly difficult. However, starting even a plant that is so simple to maintain, it is necessary to take into account some of the nuances:
- Features of the soil;
- Correct planting of the bush;
- Rules for watering and feeding the plant;
- Juniper maintenance in winter.
Seedling and planting plot preparation
It is recommended to buy seedlings with a closed root system, since open roots can only be planted during wet, moderate weather (April, May and September). Shrubs with an open root system should also be carefully treated with root stimulants (Fulvix, Heteroauxin, Radifarm).
The soil for planting shrubs must meet the requirements:
- For a sufficient level of illumination;
- Non-salinity of land;
- Lack of nearby groundwater.
For planting Blue Carpet juniper, slightly acidic or neutral soil is best suited. Properly prepared soil should include the addition of turf, peat or sand in a 1: 2: 1 ratio, respectively. It is best to choose spacious and sunny areas without stagnant water.
Planting rules for juniper scaly Blue Carpet
To plant the Blue Carpet variety, you must follow the sequence of actions:
- Dig a hole slightly larger than the root of the plant. Its depth should be 70 cm.
- Fill the bottom of the planting pit with a drainage layer of crushed stone, pebbles or shaved bricks (up to 20 cm).
- Spread a layer of turf soil, peat soil, and sand.
- Cover the entire root system with earth.Important! The neck of the shrub must be pulled over the top of the soil.
- The soil around the plant does not need to be crushed: it tends to gradually settle down after planting.
When planting a crop, it is important to consider the following rules:
- The distance between seedlings should be from 0.5 to 2 m, depending on the size and characteristics of the plants;
- A newly planted juniper needs abundant watering for 7 to 9 days;
- The best time to plant the Blue Carpet variety is in the spring, after the snow has thawed: planting shrubs at a later time due to the active sun can lead to burns and the quick death of an unrooted plant;
- After planting, the near-stem part of the Blue Carpet juniper must be mulched with a layer of peat;
- Juniper can grow on almost any soil, however, it is very important not to allow constant waterlogging of the earth;
- Juniper Blue Carpet is able to tolerate drought well. It actively grows and develops in shaded areas with light exposure to sunlight;
- In winter, it is not allowed to bury the bush with large snowdrifts: this can harm the fragile branches of the plant;
- For landing, it is preferable to choose places protected from cold winds.
Watering and feeding
Young plants require systematic watering, while adult shrubs are drought-resistant, so they are watered in dry times: during such periods, the scaly juniper responds well to crown sprinkling.
In the summer season, the Blue Carpet does not react well to heat, and therefore needs daily spraying and abundant watering (1 - 2 times a day). It is better to do this in the morning and after sunset, so as not to provoke burns on the needles. Despite the plant's light-loving nature, in order to avoid burns from the bright sun in spring, it is also required to cover the crown of the bush with a light-colored non-woven covering material or use a special green mesh.
In the spring (in April or May), the juniper needs to be fertilized: nitroammophoska or complex mineral fertilizers are well suited for feeding, and in the fall - potassium-phosphorus feeding. For newly planted young shrubs, shallow soil loosening should be carried out periodically.
Mulching and loosening
Young seedlings of the Blue Carpet variety need periodic loosening after watering, as well as regular weeding weeds.
Immediately after planting, you need to mulch the soil with a layer of peat (6 - 10 cm), pine bark or wood chips. In the spring, mulch should be removed to avoid decay of the root collar.
Loosening of the soil must be carried out carefully and shallowly so as not to damage the surface roots of the plant.
To slow down the rapid evaporation of moisture, a juniper irrigation circle should be mulched. Weeds can also interfere with the development of shrubs, so mulching the soil around the plant will additionally serve to protect the soil and improve its properties. For mulching, use compost or humus, sprinkle it with sawdust or pine bark on top. Pine cones and needles are also suitable. The mulching layer should be approximately 5 - 6 cm in height.
Juniper Pruning Blue Carpet
The Blue Carpet juniper variety does not need frequent pruning: it should only be done in the spring to remove all improperly growing and twisted branches.
When growing a juniper next to other deciduous plants, you need to ensure that deciduous litter does not remain in its crown, the subsequent rotting of which can provoke serious damage to the branches and even partial damping of the plant.
Preparing for winter
In the first year after planting in the winter, the plant needs shelter. The lowest temperature that Blue Carpet juniper can withstand is -29 oC.
In winter, due to the negative effects of wind and frost, the needles of a scaly juniper can upset the appearance of an ugly shade; in the most sad weather conditions, the plant can die. That is why, to reduce the risk of freezing before the onset of winter, you need to carefully protect the juniper with a special covering material, and sprinkle the roots with a layer of peat 8 - 10 cm thick. After mulching, the crown of young seedlings of the Blue Carpet variety is covered with spruce branches after mulching with peat.
At the end of winter, in order to avoid direct sunlight, the branches of scaly juniper are loosely covered with a special net or agrofibre.
Reproduction of Blue Carpet juniper
Juniper Blue Carpet is a dioecious plant. Its bushes can be both female and male: this can be easily determined by the type of crown: the male version of the Blue Carpet has a narrow, ovoid crown, and the female version is spread and loose. In the spring, male junipers turn yellow stripes, and small green cones appear on female bushes.
The ornamental Blue Carpet juniper can be propagated in two ways: by seed and cuttings. The last breeding option is preferable - for good growth and a beautiful plant appearance.
The fruits of the Blue Carpet juniper ripen by the beginning of autumn: they have a round shape and an average size of 0.8 cm in diameter. Initially, the buds turn green, and then gradually change their color to blue, with a slightly noticeable white bloom. Inside each cone berry there are three seeds that can be used to propagate the plant. This requires:
- In autumn, place shrub seeds in a box and leave in a cool place until spring (boxes are allowed to be kept in the fresh air).
- Sow seeds in May.
However, ornamental juniper is more often propagated by cuttings. For this:
- Cuttings 12 cm long are cut from an adult shrub and the lower coniferous branches are cleaned.
- They are freed from old wood and left for a day in a solution of water with Heteroauxin or any other growth stimulant.
- After the cuttings are planted in the ground with peat sand - before they take root.
- Cover them with foil and place in the shade. Sprinkle with water regularly and watered.
If you use a strong and healthy shrub for propagation, the results of cutting the Blue Carpet will appear in 45 days, when the development of the root system of young seedlings begins. After 2.5 - 3 months, the rooted shrubs need to be planted in a permanent place for further wintering.
If necessary, young branches can be transplanted to a new place after 3 - 4 years, after their final formation.
Pests and diseases of Blue Carpet juniper
- The most common scaly juniper disease is rust, which occurs due to basidiomycetes. The disease is characterized by the appearance of bright orange growths on the branches of the bush. The disease can last from one month to several years: at the same time, the juniper loses its decorative appearance, and the branches begin to dry out gradually, which can lead to the early death of the plant. The situation can be corrected by spraying the bush with Arcerida solution - 4 times with an interval of 8 - 10 days.
- Drying of branches. When damaged, the juniper bark begins to dry quickly, and numerous small growths of brown and black color are formed on its surface. The needles of the bush gradually turn yellow and fall off, and the branches dry out. To prevent this disease, you need to cut off the affected or dry branches in time, and periodically disinfect the plant with a 1% solution of copper sulfate.
- Trachiomycosis. The causative agents are fungi of the genus Fusarium. Trachyomycosis manifests itself when growing juniper in a humid climate or with stagnant water in the soil. Infection begins to progress in the root system, slowly spreading along the entire body of the plant. The disease clogs the conductive bundles of the bush, disrupting the transfer of nutrients. The fungus actively spreads through the shrub and leads to its rapid drying. If drying branches are found on the juniper, they must be urgently removed and the plant treated with fungicides. To reduce the risk of disease, young seedlings are disinfected using special preparations: Quadris, Maxim, Fitosporin.
The most dangerous pests of Blue Carpet juniper include spider mites, scale insects, aphids, as well as miner moths. Treatment with solutions of Fitoverma, Decis, Karate and Karbofos will help prevent damage to the bush by insects. Sprinkling juniper is carried out once a week on a regular basis.
Conclusion
Juniper scaly Blue Carpet - a favorite of designers and gardeners - due to its aesthetic appearance, unpretentious care and relatively fast growth. Adhering to the rules of agricultural technology, you can count on not only a spectacular "blue carpet" in the landscape, but a wonderful corner of home aromatherapy and relaxation.
