Juniper Blue Chip

The Blue Chip Juniper is considered one of the famous decoration shrubs that cover the soil surface. Its shoots in large numbers spread along the ground, resembling a velvety, soft green blanket. The needles are represented by soft needles, which change their color in different seasons. The design solution for this type of juniper is slope refinement, rockery, participation in coniferous designs.

Horizontal juniper Blue Chip: variety description

Juniper Blue Chip: photo of the variety

An evergreen shrub, belongs to the Cypress family. It can be seen growing wild in northern countries, these are: USA, UK, Canada. Man-grown juniper adapts to almost all climatic conditions. It grows well on flat terrain, on mountain slopes, along the shores of small reservoirs.

The needles are dense, compacted, painted in an ash gray or blue tint. In autumn, the coloration turns purple, in the spring season it acquires a deep green coloration.

Shoots in length reach more than 1 meter, branch in a horizontal plane, densely cover the soil surface. Elongated soft needles, 1-5 mm long, densely cover the stems and give off a pleasant aroma.

The leaves are narrow in the form of needles, but they are not smooth. They are more like scales, thanks to this the crown of the bush is velvety to the touch.

The variety is appreciated both for its beauty and for the fact that it aromatizes and cleans the space around it. The variety perfectly adapts to urban gas-polluted conditions.

In the autumn season, berries appear on the bushes in the form of small spherical blue fruits. This phenomenon is rare. The fruits are considered medicinal, used for traditional medicinal medicines.

Juniper is undemanding to agricultural technology. Possesses tolerance to dry periods and low temperature conditions.

Plant size

A small plant with shoots creeping along the ground. A juniper grows up to 0.5 m in length, with a crown diameter of 1.5 m.When the shoots grow, they begin to equally cover the ground, resembling a gray-blue rug.

The shrub grows in a horizontal plane, almost no growth occurs in length.

For a year, the ephedra can add in growth plus 10 cm. To obtain a dense, beautiful coverage of the territory, up to 10, or even more, juniper plants are planted.

The plant was born in the North American and Canadian territories, so it is resistant to frost periods. Only young shrubs need to be sheltered for wintering throughout the year after they are planted.

Juniper horizontal Blue Chip as an element of decoration

Juniper Blue Chip in landscape design: photo

The tree is used to create coniferous designs in combination with thuja, spruce, juniper bushes, on flower beds, in order to emphasize the decorativeness of plants that have bloomed. Coniferous mixborders stand out from the rest of the designs - their look is presentable all year round.

The decorative variety we are considering looks in designs using huge beautiful stones - rockery.Juniper also covers meadows, slopes, flower beds, it all looks original and beautiful, especially near lakes and rivers.

Also, the shrub is planted longitudinally to the paths in the garden and the walls of buildings, as a curb. The border looks great throughout the year without losing its shape. The background of the gray walls will perfectly contrast with the blue needles.

Juniper Blue Chip: planting and care

In order for the shrub to be decorative, to retain its properties for a long time, it is necessary to make a competent choice of a place for planting it. The variety loves the sun; growth will not occur in a shaded place.

Seedlings can be purchased from nurseries that sell ornamental plants. When purchasing our variety, take a close look at the root system and shoots.

The root system should be perfectly developed, the shoots should be of this year, plus they should be covered with dense needles. If the needles have specks of yellow or white, do not take this seedling.

The shoots must be flexible, it is unacceptable that they be dried out. The roots are kept closed in a plastic pot or container before planting.

Do not allow the soil ball around the roots to dry out. After removing the plant from the container, wrap the roots in a damp cloth.

How to prepare a seedling and planting site

For planting, a place free from other plants is selected, illuminated by the sun, or a semi-shaded area. The soil should be moderately moist, acidic. An excess of water or salinity of the soil will destroy the plants.

To prevent this problem, a drainage system is laid out in the landing pit, it is advisable to make a thickened layer. The planting interval is 2 meters. This will contribute to the correct growth of the crown of the shrub.

2-3 hours before planting, the seedlings must be removed from the container, the roots should be wrapped with a damp cloth. Or place the rhizome in water for 60 minutes.

Planting principles

Plants are planted in the spring season, in the last days of March or in the first April. It is possible in the autumn season, while the weather is warm outside.

A pit for planting the Blue Chip juniper is dug so that it is 2 times larger than the juniper root. In the bottom of the pit, a drainage layer of expanded clay is laid out. Further, the pit is ½ filled with a fertile soil mixture: turf, peat, sand. These components are taken in equal proportions.

If the soil is acidic, peat is not needed.

Further progress of work

• The hole filled with soil must be filled with water.
• As the water is absorbed, the root system should be lowered into the hole, very carefully so as not to damage the soil ball.
• You need to finish planting the Blue Chip juniper by sprinkling the plant with loose soil and tamping the soil.
• The root collar must be at the same height as the ground surface, it must not be allowed to be underground.

Watering and feeding

In the summer season, watering is carried out 1 time / 7 days stably. In the spring and autumn seasons - 2 times / 30 days. Excessive watering is prohibited. Watering is necessary in moderation, no more than 10 liters per plant. The first watering is done immediately after planting or replanting.

It is required to feed the shrubs once in the summer, autumn, spring seasons. You can fertilize with nitrogen, phosphate, organic matter. Special potash mixtures for conifers are perfect for feeding.

How to mulch and loosen the soil

Before and after watering, you need to loosen the soil. This helps to get rid of the root system of stagnant water, increase air exchange. You need to loosen it carefully, without damaging the roots of the bush.

As soon as moisture is absorbed, the trunk circle must be mulched. What can be mutilated? You need to cover the near-trunk circle with a 5 cm layer of spruce, sawdust, needles. This will keep water at the roots and reduce the number of waterings.If the soil is not particularly alkaline, you can mulch it with pine bark.

Circumcision procedure

Held early in the spring. It is necessary to remove old dried up branches, thereby freeing up space for the development of young shoots. The ends of the shoots that have frozen over the winter season are cut off. It is not required to form a shrub.

How to prepare a juniper for the winter season

Shelter needs to be done only in the first year after planting. The near-trunk circle must be mulched with a thickened 10 cm layer of sawdust. Cover the apical part with branches of coniferous plants. When the shrub is a year old or more, it becomes frost-resistant, which means that it does not need to be sheltered for the winter.

Juniper Blue Chip. Reproduction methods

The juniper is propagated by layering or petioles.

Reproduction layering Is the easiest way to propagate a plant. You need to choose strong shoots, bend them to the soil, secure with hairpins. Before this, the soil needs to be loosened, fed into it, and sand added. After 6 months, the root of the appendix will start to sprout. Further, it should be separated from the mother and dropped off separately.

If multiply petioles, then it will be more difficult. Early in the spring, before the buds bloom, you need to choose strong shoots, cut them into small 12 cm branches. Next, clean one end of the bark and lower the petiole into a prepared mixture of sand and peat.

Provide the plant with regular watering. Temperature conditions should be 20 degrees or more. As soon as the seedling takes root, it needs to be rooted in the soil when the weather is warm outside.

Diseases and harmful insects to which the creeping juniper Blue Chip is susceptible

Harmful insects such as aphids, scale insects, spider mites strive to attack the juniper. For preventive purposes, the shrub must be sprayed early in the spring with insecticides, repeat the procedure in the summer season.

The plant is susceptible to root rot and rust. Symptoms: the shrub withers, dries up, the shoots are covered with various specks. For treatment, the plant is treated with fungicides. An excellent remedy against fungus is Bordeaux mixture. After the crown has been treated with chemistry, add root dressing. This will strengthen the shrub after illness.

Outcomes

Juniper of the Blue Chip variety has unpretentiousness, beauty, is cultivated in any climatic conditions. The shrub is tolerant to dry and frosty periods. The plant is unpretentious to care. It has a wonderful appearance all year round, even in the winter season it decorates the site with its unearthly beauty.

The Blue Chip creeping juniper has won numerous awards at international plant exhibitions, which are used for landscape decoration for their decorative properties.

Juniper Blue Chip: reviews of the application in landscape design

Valentina Mikhailovna, Vladimir region: «I love landscaping. I decided to experiment on my grandmother's estate. There is not enough time to grow the plants that are transplanted every year. For this reason, I planted the Blue Chip variety, surrounded by several large stones. The picture is beautiful, plus it is fashionable now. In the winter season, such a design looks great, as in the summer, in fact».

Sergey Dmitrievich, Ryazan region: «For a long time I wanted to create curbs along the paths of the garden, but there was no time. My wife decided to plant the Blue Chip juniper variety on her own. It turned out great, even better than planned. The needles of a gray-blue color contrasts perfectly against the background of gray porcelain stoneware. I can’t even think that a couple of some bushes will decorate the territory like that ”.

Oleg Alekseevich, 47 years old, Astrakhan region: «For 15 years now I have been decorating household territories. I observe such a thing - the Blue Chip juniper variety has become very popular in our time.I use it myself, especially in cold climates. I like to make coniferous designs. When ordinary plants have faded, the beds with conifers still stand green in the winter season. The beauty!".