Juniper Chinese: Spartan, Variegata, Blauw, Blue Hevan

In botany, there are more than 70 species of juniper, one of which is the Chinese juniper. The plant is actively grown on the territory of Russia and is used in the field of landscape design. Classification of the most popular varieties with a photo of Chinese juniper will help in choosing a suitable option for growing.

Description of Chinese juniper

The Chinese juniper is a representative of the Cypress family, whose place of origin is considered to be China, Japan, Manchuria and North Korea. The culture grows in the form of a shrub or tree up to 20 m in height, with dark green shoots. This type of juniper has two types of needles: acicular and scaly. Its color also depends on the type of plant and can vary from yellow, green - to white and variegated.

The shrub got its name in honor of its habitat, and the cultivation of Chinese juniper in Europe began around the beginning of the 19th century. In the 1850s, the first tree sprouts were brought to the Nikitsky Botanical Garden (Crimea), and a little later - to the gardens of the North Caucasus.

In the initial stages, the development of the Chinese juniper proceeds slowly, but soon the plant begins to grow more intensively, gradually reaching its true size.

The shrub has a fairly high level of frost resistance (up to -30 ˚С), however, young seedlings need shelter for the winter. The Chinese juniper is not picky about the level of soil fertility and its moisture, but it is important to consider: low air humidity can provoke the occurrence of various diseases. The level of gas pollution in the air does not play an important role in the development of juniper: the tree can withstand the conditions of both arid steppes and a noisy city. It is best to plant Chinese juniper in the southwestern part of the forest zone, in the western and central parts of the forest-steppe and steppe belt. The best places for growing shrubs are the Crimea and the Caucasus.

In addition to aesthetic features, Chinese juniper has a number of useful properties: for example, for the manufacture of anti-inflammatory drugs in folk medicine for external use. Preparations from juniper needles help fight skin diseases, sciatica and polyarthritis, relieve rheumatic pains. The roots of the plant are also endowed with healing properties: they are used to treat diseases of the respiratory system, including tuberculosis, and the branches of Chinese juniper help to cope with allergies.

Chinese juniper in landscape design

Often, gardeners use Chinese juniper for decorative tasks: creating landscape compositions or in the field of gardening. The plant adapts well to cutting and shaping, which allows you to give the bushes different design forms. The Chinese juniper is actively used in the creation of conifers and mixed mixborders, as well as in the role of an addition to other landscape compositions (rockeries and rock gardens).

Another advantage of using the plant in landscaping is the ability of Chinese juniper to purify the air around it. In one day, a hectare of such coniferous plantations can release more than 30 kg of phytoncides into the environment. This amount of antiseptics is enough to disinfect the air of one big city. Several seedlings of the plant will be an excellent option for planting in a summer cottage.

Chinese juniper varieties

Today in botany there are more than 20 species of Chinese juniper, each of which is characterized by its own properties. Before buying a bush, it is important to carefully read the characteristics of each plant variety, its characteristics and care rules.

Juniper Chinese Spartan

Juniper Chinese Spartan (Spartan) is a tree with a cone-shaped crown and a rapid growth rate. At the age of ten, the plant reaches about 3 m in height, which allows designers to use the Spartan variety for creating hedges.

The highest tree height is 5 m with a crown diameter of 2.5 m. Juniper shoots are arranged vertically, and the growth rate of branches per year reaches 15 cm in length. The plant has dense needle-shaped needles of light green color.

The Spartan variety is often planted in moderately moist soils. Ephedra has a high level of frost resistance, undemanding to soil composition and light-requiring. In addition to creating hedges, gardeners recommend including the tree in group compositions, combining them with undersized species.

Juniper Expansa Variegat

Juniper Chinese Expansa Variegata (Expansa Variegata) is a dwarf shrub, the maximum size of which is 40 cm in height and 1.5 m in width. The shoots of the plant creep down on the ground, forming a bright green needle carpet. The needles of the Chinese juniper variety Variegata are presented in the form of needles and scales, have a rich green-blue color, and the fruits of the bush are small (5 - 7 mm) light green cones. The shrub of this variety also has a distinctive feature: some of its pine needles are painted in a soft cream color.

Fans of dwarf plant varieties quite often choose this particular type of Chinese juniper due to the low growth rate of shoots - only 30 cm in 10 years of growth.

The shrub is planted in rocky, moderately nutrient-rich soil. It is strongly not recommended to grow the Expansa Variegat variety at home - the plant prefers to creep along the ground, so a small summer cottage will be the best place to cultivate it.

Juniper Blauve

Juniper Blauw is an evergreen, slow-growing shrub with crown-shaped needles. On the territory of Europe, the plant appeared in the 20s of the twentieth century, when the first shrub seedlings were brought from Japan. Traditionally, the variety Blauw was used to decorate Japanese gardens, as well as an element of ikebana. Its distinctive characteristics are straight shoots growing strictly upward, which gives the shrub a characteristic shape. In the classical description, the maximum height of the juniper of the Chinese blow is 2.5 m with a crown diameter of 2 m, however, these indicators may vary: it all depends on the level of moisture and soil fertility. The plant has scaly needles of gray-blue color.Ephedra is undemanding to the soil, grows especially well and develops on soils with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction, as well as in alkaline soil. Excellent for planting on city streets, since the level of gas pollution in the air has practically no effect on the condition of the plant. The only enemy of the Blauve variety can be sawflies,

Gardeners recommend combining this juniper variety with tall types of ornamental crops, placing the shrub in a semi-shaded area.

Juniper Blue Haven

Dendrologists consider this variety to be one of the most intensely colored shrub species. The juniper of the Chinese Blue Haven is characterized by a conical, dense crown of a sky-blue color, which persists throughout the year. Landscape designers often use this variety to create hedges, as well as as a vertical element in a garden composition. The needles of the plant have a wide conical shape with raised cylindrical shoots. In maturity, the Blue Haven variety reaches 5 m in height and more than 2 m in width. The culture has a high level of winter hardiness, prefers sunny or slightly shaded areas. The plant is not recommended to be planted in the shade so that its needles do not become lethargic and loose. The Blue Haven variety is undemanding to the soil, it develops well on any drained soil, regardless of the level of its fertility. Designers use this type of Chinese juniper as a vertical element in creating a rock garden and contrasting landscape compositions.

Juniper Chinese plumosa Aurea

Juniper Chinese plumosa Aurea is especially appreciated by landscape designers for the rich yellow color of the needles. At the age of 10 years, the plant reaches 1 m in height with a crown diameter of 1 m. The ephedra has a wide spreading crown with slightly asymmetrical feathery branches. The annual growth of the Plumosa Aurea variety is 5 - 8 cm in height and about 10 cm in width. The needles of the plant are scaly, golden yellow in color, the ends of the shoots hang down slightly. Junipers of this type are often used to create group or single plantings, for landscaping an alpine slide, rockery, as well as for a rocky slope.

Juniper Monarch

Description of the variety: Juniper Chinese Monarch is a tall, monochromatic tree with an irregular columnar crown and dense needles. The growth rate of the plant is slow, it can reach a maximum of 3 m in height and 2.5 m in width. Ephedra is most often used for the formation of hedges, as well as as a central figure in the garden. The Monarch variety has thorny needles, painted in a bluish-green color, which from a distance is perceived as a pure blue color. Not picky about lighting, the plant can be grown both in sunny places and in semi-shaded areas. The tree is undemanding to planting soil and watering, but it does not tolerate drafts: they can provoke the appearance of various diseases and the death of the ephedra. For this variety of Chinese juniper, only sanitary pruning is needed: there is no need to constantly prune growing shoots.

Juniper Obelisk

According to the description, the Obelisk juniper is a tall tree with an irregular crown shape, which smoothly turns from a narrow conical to a wide one. At the age of 10 years, the plant is 3 m high. The variety has hard subulate needles, covered with a blue bloom. Ephedra is undemanding to soil and watering, grows best in sunny places, but, at that time, in a shaded area it becomes dry and loose. Sanitary pruning of the plant is carried out in the spring, after which the juniper should be treated with a fungicide to protect against fungal diseases. Important! Experts do not recommend cutting off more than 1/3 of the growth.

The crop does not require shelter for winter periods, however, in late fall, the branches of the plant should be tied together to prevent crown injuries due to the severity of the snow cover.

Juniper Kaizuka

Juniper Chinese Kaizuka (Kaizuka) is an evergreen coniferous plant with an unusual color of needles, changing their color from green to dark blue. At the ends of the branches there are deep beige spots. The branches of the plant are horizontal, parallel to the ground. The crown has an irregular shape, with shoots differing from each other in length. In adulthood, it reaches more than 5 meters in height with a crown diameter of 2 m. The Kaizuka variety has needle-like prickly needles with a rich green color in the middle of the needles and a silvery-blue tint at the ends. Some of the needles of the plant are beige, which makes the plant more exotic. The root system of the tree is branched, the variety does not tolerate soil with a high salt content, which is why black soil is considered the best soil for planting it. Often, designers call this variety "juniper in apples" because the beige spots on the body of the plant really resemble these fruits. The low tree height allows the Kaizuka Juniper to be used for low to medium hedges. The plant will serve as an excellent decoration for both single flower beds and complex compositions.

Juniper Chinese Keteleri

The Chinese juniper Keteleeri is a fast-growing, tall coniferous tree, reaching over 5 m in height in adulthood. The plant is characterized by an erect, dense columnar crown with vertical branches and a special coniferous aroma. Juniper variety Keteleri has scaly needles, pointed at the ends, of bright green color with a bluish waxy bloom.

Gardeners recommend planting the plant in well-lit areas, while the ephedra normally tolerates slight shading. It grows better and develops on fertile, moderately moist, drained soil, has a high level of frost and wind resistance.

The culture is used in the creation of evergreen hedges, group compositions and looks especially good in combination with golden yellow conifers, as well as separately on a green lawn.

Juniper Chinese Expansa Aureospicata

Juniper Chinese Expansa Aureospicata (Expansa Aureospicata) is a low-growing slow-growing dwarf shrub with a wide spreading crown and shoots spreading horizontally on the ground. In adulthood, it reaches 30 - 40 cm in height with a crown width of up to 1.5 m. The annual growth of the plant is up to 10 cm in width. It grows better in sunny areas, shaded areas can provoke a loss of the decorative qualities of the crown. Juniper Chinese Expansa Aureospicata will be a good addition to the design of rocky gardens and gardens in the oriental style.

Juniper Chinese Pfitzeriana

The Chinese Pfitzerian juniper is characterized by a slow growth rate - up to 15 - 20 cm per year. At the age of 10 years, the plant reaches 1 m in height, and the maximum size of the shrub is about 2 m in height with a crown diameter of 3 - 4 m. The Chinese Pfitzeriana juniper has a prostrate crown shape, which then slightly rises with hanging ends of the shoots. At a young age, the shoots are colored golden yellow, which becomes bright green over the years.

The variety is actively used in landscape design to create bonsai and decorate rocky walls.

Juniper Chinese Blue & Gold

Juniper Chinese Blue and Gold is one of the most original ornamental shrubs with an unusual crown shape, consisting of blue and yellow shoots. At the age of 10, the plant reaches about 0.8 m in height with a crown diameter of 1 m.The crown of the shrub is spreading, with an irregular shape. Ephedra is endowed with bright phytoncidal, insecticidal and bactericidal properties.

It is undemanding to soil and moisture, develops better in illuminated areas, and in shaded areas it can lose color contrast. This Chinese juniper has a high level of frost resistance.

Blue and Gold seedlings are equally suitable both for small areas and for large garden and park contrasting compositions that can decorate city lawns.

Juniper Chinese Gold Coast

Juniper Chinese Gold Coast is an evergreen fast-growing ephedra with a dense spreading crown of golden-green color. In adulthood, it usually reaches 1 m in height with a diameter of 2 m. The annual growth of the shrub is about 10 - 15 cm. During the period of active growth, horizontal shoots with drooping ends have a bright yellow color, which eventually darkens and acquires a golden hue. The fruits of the plant are represented by small rounded cones. The shrub is undemanding to the soil, prefers illuminated areas: in shaded areas it develops much worse, losing its color. The plant is resistant to severe frost, dry periods and active spring sun.

Juniper chinese dubs frosted

Juniper Chinese Dubs Frosted is a slow-growing cushion shrub with a spreading crown. It is considered one of the most valuable varieties of low-growing juniper. In adulthood, it reaches 0.4 - 0.6 m in height with a crown diameter of 3 - 5 m. A distinctive feature of the species is its bright yellow color of needles, which eventually changes to dark green. The Dubs Frosted variety is a light-loving plant, which, however, feels quite comfortable in a semi-shaded area. When planting, it is best to give preference to moist, well-drained soil. Ephedra needs regular watering. It is actively used by designers to create both complex garden compositions and single plantings.

Juniper Chinese Torulose Variegata

Juniper Chinese varieties Torulose Variegata is distinguished by a conical dense picturesque crown of irregular shape. The branches of the plant are in a raised state, evenly spaced. Shoots are straight, short. The shrub has thorny blue-green needles, often white-variegated shoots can be traced on the plant.

The growth rate is slow, in adulthood the shrub reaches 2 m in height with a crown diameter of 1.5 m, the annual growth is up to 10 cm.It is unpretentious to the ground, has a high level of frost resistance, grows better in sunny areas, in the shade it loses its rich color ... The Chinese juniper variety Torulose Variegata will perfectly complement the design of a rocky garden or rock gardens.

Planting and caring for Chinese junipers

Chinese juniper is undemanding to care for, however, buying even such an unpretentious plant, it is important to carefully study all the rules for its content.

Landing rules

Before sowing Chinese juniper, gardeners recommend adding a little soil from juniper plant species to the planting furrows: this will contribute to the spread of mycorrhiza.

The optimal place for planting cuttings is sunny territories: in a shaded area, the plant gradually begins to lose its decorative properties, becomes dry and loose. The distance between seedlings is influenced by the variety of Chinese juniper: columnar varieties are planted at a distance of 0.5 - 1 m from each other, and trees with a spreading crown shape need a larger area for development - 1.5 - 2 m.The planting depth of the shrub is 70 cm . When planting to the root who needs to fill up a little soil, and if necessary, create a drainage of broken brick and sand with a layer of up to 20 cm.Planting large representatives of the Chinese juniper has its own specifics: the root collar of the seedling should go 5-10 cm beyond the edges of the planting pit. It is best to buy seedlings with a closed root system. A plant with open roots requires more effort in care, as well as a limited time for planting: they can only be planted at the end of April and before the beginning of May, or at the end of August and until the beginning of September. Exposed roots also need additional treatment with special root stimulants.

Seedlings in containers have a higher level of viability and should be planted in a permanent place at any time of the year. Chinese juniper is mostly undemanding to the level of soil fertility.

The optimal soil composition for a plant includes:

• 2 parts of peat;
• 1 part of sod land and sand.

The ratio of the ingredients can be changed, depending on the type of Chinese juniper.

In order to prevent stagnation of moisture in the soil, at the bottom of the pit, a drainage cushion should be made of 10 cm of sand and 10 cm of gravel (expanded clay can also be used).

Watering and feeding

Young shrub seedlings need regular watering. After rooting, watering of plants is reduced to 4 times a season (up to 1 time per month). After each watering, it is necessary to weed and slightly loosen the soil around the seedling.

In hot weather, the crown needs constant spraying: young plants can hardly tolerate hot air. Spraying should be done only after sunset or before sunrise.

Mulching and loosening

Loosening the soil should be a must immediately after watering. Top dressing of the soil is carried out only once: every season, at the beginning of June, it is necessary to apply nitroammofosk to the soil in a ratio of 30 - 40 g per 1 m².

Chinese Juniper Pruning

Most varieties of Chinese juniper are characterized by a slow growth rate, so frequent pruning of shrubs is not necessary. It is only important to ensure that no dried or diseased branches appear on the plant: they should be removed immediately.

Preparing for winter

Juniper Chinese has a high level of frost resistance and is well suited for growing in central Russia without additional shelter. However, after planting, in the early stages of development, shrubs need protection from heavy snow piles and severe frosts. To do this, the seedlings must be covered with spruce branches and a special protective material. In the autumn period, the Chinese juniper needs mulching with a layer of up to 10 cm - with peat or sawdust.

You can find out more information about the features of the Chinese juniper from the video:

Reproduction of Chinese juniper

The propagation of Chinese juniper can take place in several ways.

The first and most common option is propagation by cuttings. The material for planting is prepared in February: for this, young, but already barked shoots of the plant are taken. It is best to choose cuttings from 5 to 25 cm, with more than two internodes.

The lower part of the seedling must be protected from branches and needles, and soaked in Kornevin. Pre-prepared boxes should be filled with a mixture of sand, humus and peat in equal proportions. After that, immerse the planting material into the ground to a depth of 2 - 3 cm. Place the container with seedlings on a well-clarified area, having previously covered it with a protective film. Cuttings need to be regularly watered and sprayed, and after 1 - 3 years they should be planted in open ground.

The second breeding option for Chinese juniper is propagation by layering. This method is better suited for horizontal plant species. The circle around the bush must be loosened, fertilized with a mixture of sand and peat. After cleaning several areas of the lateral shoot in several areas from the bark and press down with pins, sprinkle with soil on top.A young plant needs regular and moderate watering. It is possible to separate the cuttings from the mother shrub as early as next year.

The third and most time-consuming method of propagating Chinese juniper is with seeds. This option allows you to get the largest number of young and completely healthy plant bushes. Black-coated cones with seeds already ripe inside are used.

Seeds must be stratified before planting. With this method of reproduction of the Chinese juniper, the first shoots can be expected only 1 to 3 years after planting. Before sowing, it is necessary to stratify the seeds. For 30 days, the planting material must be kept at a temperature of 25 - 30 ° C, and in the next four months - at a temperature of 14 - 15 ° C. In the spring, the seeds of the plant are cleaned of pericarp, and then scarified (they slightly violate the hard integument).

Diseases and pests

The most common diseases of Chinese juniper are:

1. Rust... Symptoms of the disease appear as brownish growths with an orange coating. Rust provokes the death of individual parts of the shrub, and soon the final death of the plant. That is why, upon discovering the first signs of the disease, it is necessary to immediately remove the diseased branches and treat the shrub with Arcerida solution.
   
2. Drying branches... If the Chinese juniper turns yellow, the bark of the plant begins to dry out, and the needles crumble, you need to immediately remove the branches affected by the disease, secure the sections with a 1% solution of copper sulfate, and then treat these places with a garden varnish. To prevent the disease in the spring or autumn, the Chinese juniper should be treated with 1% Bordeaux mixture or a special preparation (for example, Hom). If the disease has recurred, the treatment can be carried out in the summer.
3. Brown shute... Most often, it appears in the spring with the yellowing of the plant and the browning of the needles. The needles remain in place, however, the branches themselves begin to die off, which is why the shrub loses its decorative qualities. The treatment of brown shute is identical with the treatment for drying out of branches: it is necessary to immediately cut and burn the affected branches of the bush and treat the juniper with special preparations.

The most common pests of juniper are moth-laying aphids and spider mites. Such drugs as Fitoverm, Decis and Karate (in the ratio, according to the instructions) will help protect the shrub.

Conclusion

Juniper Chinese is one of the types of junipers that are actively used in landscape design. In botany, there are more than 15 species of this plant, each of which has its own unique properties. Plants of this type are unpretentious in care, easy to form and shear, which allows you to grow the plant everywhere. It is important to familiarize yourself with the main rules of maintenance, and then the Chinese juniper will be able to delight the owners with its rich color and healing aroma all year round.

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