Juniper blue star planting and care in the open field in spring

Compositions consisting of coniferous plants look very beautiful and sophisticated, and they also purify the air and fill it with fragrance. Among these horticultural crops, Blue Star juniper stands out for its special appearance. This compact coniferous bush has a dense crown and spreading branches. It delights with its beauty, and its blue color is able to emphasize the uniqueness of your garden landscape. Therefore, we need to get to know the beautiful plant in more detail.

Blue Star Juniper Description

Juniper Blue Star belongs to slow-growing shrubs, the growth is about 8 cm per year, the description of this ephedra indicates compactness. Therefore, at the age of 10, the plant grows up to 40 cm, and the diameter is up to 2 m. The shape of the crown of the bush looks like a hemisphere. The needles on the shoots are scaly and short, prickly to the touch. The edges of the branches of the shrub have a bright turquoise color, but then, gradually, they change their color to gray with a blue tint.

The miniature size of the Blue Star juniper (as seen in the photo) allows you to plant the plant in containers and decorate loggias, balconies, and terraces. And also the shrub will be irresistible in compositions for landscaping the local area.

Coniferous garden culture is unpretentious to soil. The plant is capable of developing both on dense soils, and on loose ones, consisting of sand. The bush prefers sunny areas, but light partial shade will not interfere with it.

Juniper scaly Blue Star is considered a poisonous plant, its branches and fruits on them should be protected from children. Adults should also take precautions for handling ephedra.

Planting and caring for Blue Star junipers

The presented shrub is planted in holes, which are 2-3 times larger in volume than the root system of the plant along with an earthen clod. For adult horticultural crops, the planting pit should reach a depth of 70 cm.A drainage layer must be placed on the bottom, it can be gravel or broken brick, its thickness is about 20 cm.

For planting Blue Star juniper, a soil mixture is prepared, consisting of:

• peat;
• land where turf grew;
• sand.

Do it in a 2: 1: 1 ratio. It should have either a slightly acidic or neutral reaction.

During the planting process, make sure that the root collar of the plant is at the level of the soil, and in no case should it be deepened.

A newly planted bush needs generous watering throughout the week. After landing, the Blue Star juniper is easy to care for. It consists:

• in soil moisture;
• in plant feeding;
• in shallow loosening and mulching;
• in the fight against pests and diseases;
• in the removal of dry branches.

When dry weather sets in, the ephedra needs watering. The bush does not tolerate dry air, so it will be very grateful to you for sprinkling.

The first time the plant is fed in the spring. The end of April - the beginning of May is the most suitable period for fertilizing. To do this, give a nitroammofosk or a complete mineral dressing. In October, the plant is fed with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer.

It is advisable to periodically loosen to make the topsoil breathable and permeable.This action also destroys weeds.

The development of the shrub will be more intensive if the soil is mulched in the spring. This procedure will also help to improve moisture and air penetration. The area prepared near the plant is sprinkled with complex dressing, sand and sawdust. Then mulch is placed, which consists of decorative stones. A layer of 8 cm will be enough for this.

If the Blue Star juniper is affected by fungal diseases, then it must be treated with fungicides. For the prevention of these diseases, 1% Bordeaux liquid is used. You can get rid of insects such as caterpillars and aphids by using insecticides. You need to process this garden culture with a solution 2 times a week.

The wintering of the ephedra is carried out without shelter, but if the plants are still young, then they can be covered with spruce branches. Particular attention is paid to the spring sun, as the shrub can get burned. To prevent this from happening, it is also covered with spruce branches or sandbod.

The plant does not need special pruning, but if you see damaged branches during inspection, then they must be removed.

If you regularly take proper care of the Blue Star scaly juniper, then it will grow lush, with beautiful blue needles.

Photo of Blue Star juniper in landscape design

This plant creates a contrast in landscape design with most coniferous and deciduous ornamental crops. Gardeners are happy to include it in compositions with other plants because of its compact dense needles and blue color with a silvery sheen. The shrub will look spectacular in rocky gardens, rock gardens, in a low hedge. Juniper Blue Star in landscape design (pictured) creates a unique beauty and is favorably combined with various decorative cultures.

The use of Blue Star juniper in the arrangement of your garden plot is worthy of your attention. Get a few more varieties of plants with different colors of needles, which will make the compositions even more interesting.

Juniper planting video

Juniper Blue Star is an unpretentious dwarf plant that differs from other species and varieties with silvery-bluish needles. Planting this shrub in open ground and further caring for it will not require much effort and time. This juniper variety can be a great addition to any garden arrangement.

Description

Juniper scaly Blue Star is a coniferous plant that began to spread in the 50-60s of the last century. This is a dwarf shrub no more than 1 m in height and up to 2 m in width. For 1 year, the shoots lengthen by only 2-10 cm, so the plant reaches its maximum size only after several decades.

At 10-15 years of age, the maximum height of the shrub is about 40 cm.

The crown of a juniper has an irregular wide-oval shape, in appearance it resembles a crumpled pillow. The needles of young shoots are painted in grayish-turquoise tones; with age, this shade is replaced by a more calm gray-blue, silvery color. Spiny lanceolate needles are small and are very close to each other.

In autumn, black-blue rounded fruits are formed on the juniper - cone berries, which are poisonous.

Attention!

All parts of Blue Star Scaly Juniper are poisonous, so you need to be very careful when growing this variety on your site.

Landing

Before planting junipers in open ground, you must choose a suitable place for this. The site must be ventilated and sunny. Even with slight shading, the shoots can begin to stretch, as a result of which the shrub will look untidy, and the needles will begin to change their shade from blue to nondescript dark green - and the plant will lose its decorative qualities.

Juniper does not tolerate waterlogged alkaline soils, therefore, such plants should be planted in soils with an acidity of about 4.5-6.5 pH. If the site is clayey, then you need to add sand and peat. And if sandy, then humus and clay.

When planting a seedling, you must follow the following algorithm:

1. saturate the soil in the container with moisture;
2. dig a hole about 70 cm deep and several times larger than the diameter of the seedling earthen clod;
3. put a 20 cm drainage layer at the bottom of the pit;
4. pull out the seedling together with a clod of earth from the container and place it in the center of the hole so that the root collar is 5-10 cm above the soil surface (after watering and subsidence of the earth, it will be flush with the edge of the hole);
5. fill the hole with a mixture of peat, sand and turf soil, taken in a ratio of 2: 1: 1;
6. water the soil and lightly tamp;
7. mulch the soil with a layer of 5-8 cm.

When planting several seedlings, it is necessary to leave a distance of at least 50 cm between the plants.

Care

This juniper variety is quite unpretentious. It is drought-resistant, can withstand frosts down to -25 ° C, undemanding to the soil. Nevertheless, it needs certain conditions to preserve its decorative properties.

• Regular watering. During the first week after planting a seedling in open ground, it should be watered abundantly, and after this time - once every 1-2 weeks. For 1 adult plant, about 10-30 liters of water is required (the exact volume depends on the type of soil).
• Spraying, or sprinkling, shoots in the evening, especially on hot and dry summer days.
• Periodic renewal of the mulch layer, which prevents weeds, nourishes the soil and retains moisture in it.
• Fertilization. Nutrients must be applied once a year in the spring.
• Sanitary pruning in the spring.
• Shelter and tying the shoots with twine for the winter. In October November, young plants should be covered with spruce branches, and adults should be sprinkled with a layer of peat 10 cm - this will prevent frostbite of the shoots.

Pests and diseases

Juniper is affected by many pests and diseases. Of the insects, most often on conifers, you can see scale insects, Ohrid minelayers, aphids, spider mites. This shrub can get sick with rust, biorella cancer, various types of shute, alternaria, etc. But adherence to cultivation technologies and the use of biological products will protect the juniper from these ailments.

Young plants are especially sensitive to pests and diseases; with age, resistance to these ailments increases. To prevent their occurrence, it is necessary to use only healthy planting material, timely remove dried shoots, and apply fertilizers on time. The use of immunostimulants that increase the resistance of plants to unfavorable environmental factors, as well as various fungicides and insecticides, will also be effective.

Reproduction

The best way to propagate conifers is by cuttings.

1. In adult plants, a one-year shoot with a "heel", that is, last year's wood, breaks down.
2. The lower part of the cuttings is cleaned of needles and placed for a while in a growth stimulant solution.
3. The stalk is buried in a wet mixture of peat and sand.
4. The top is covered with a film or a plastic bottle.
5. After 4-6 weeks at a temperature of about 20 ° C, the root system develops. After that, the seedling is planted in open ground.

Subject to all the rules of care, the Blue Star juniper will delight the eye for a long time and will become a real decoration of the garden plot.

Scaly juniper Blue Star (Juniperus squamata Blue Star) is a popular ornamental crop that is grown today in various recreational areas, in summer cottages, in parks, gardens, flower beds and lawns. Suitable for "Blue Star" and for growing at home - for decorating balconies, loggias, outdoor terraces.This coniferous dwarf shrub has a dense, wide domed crown and spreading branches, due to which the adult plant reaches 2 m in diameter.

Blue Star juniper grows slowly - no more than 5-7 cm per year - and reaches a height of up to 1 meter.

1 Plant description

The botanical description characterizes this plant as follows: the needles have a bluish-greenish tint with a silvery sheen, and young shoots can be colored from gray to turquoise.

A feature of the Blue Star juniper variety is its toxicity, therefore, when working with it, you must observe all precautions, and also take this feature into account when planting it in summer cottages - it should not be adjacent to the places where children play. You should not plant greenery with its help areas where animals walk.

This type of juniper bears fruit in the fall, in the second year after planting.

The slow growth of a coniferous shrub, its compact size allows not only planting junipers in open ground, but also decorating terraces, balconies and loggias with them, as well as living rooms, planting plants in a container. This variety really has the potential to become a star in landscape design.

Due to its unpretentiousness, the juniper does not require constant painstaking care. Frost resistance allows you to leave it in the ground for the winter.

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2 Choosing a place and landing features

Juniper of the Blue Star variety is unpretentious in its habitat. However, it is preferable to plant it in sunny places, areas that are well ventilated. Shaded areas will contribute to the loss of the original crown coloration.

The plant is resistant to dry climate and frost, typical for the middle zone and northern regions of our country. The bush hibernates under the snow. When the first rays of the sun appear, it needs sanitary pruning.

The plant is unpretentious to the ground, it can grow in any type of soil, except for waterlogged areas with stagnant water.

When planting in rocky soil or sandy soil, clay or humus should be added to the substrate, the trunk space should be mulched with peat. The ideal soil type for this plant is slightly acidic loam. Planted in an arid area, the Blue Star needs infrequent but regular watering.

When planting this juniper variety, it is necessary to take into account a number of features:

• In the case of planting several bushes, they should not be placed closer to each other than 1.5-2 m.
• The depth at which the plant is planted should not be less than 50-70 cm, and the volume of the pit is recommended to be made 2 times larger than the earthen coma.
• Lay out the bottom of the pit with a thick layer of broken brick or cover it with coarse sand to a thickness of 15-20 cm.
• The root collar does not deepen during planting, but must remain at ground level.
• With a close location of groundwater, drainage from crushed stone should be performed with a layer of about 15 cm.
• The optimum soil composition for planting Blue Star Junipers is a mixture of peat, sand and earth in approximately equal proportions.

The place where the juniper is planted must be sufficiently drained, as stagnant water increases the risk of developing fungal diseases.

Correct transplantation of a young plant with a clod of earth

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3 Care of juniper

The Blue Star juniper needs infrequent but regular watering. Moisturizing once every 1-2 weeks will be sufficient. In addition, the shrub can be sprayed with water, and this should be done in the evening hours, when the sun's rays lose their intensity.

It is extremely important to mulch the soil around the shrub - this contributes to faster plant growth and additional moisture to the root system.Before mulching, it is necessary to clear the area of ​​weeds and debris.

For fertilization, a complex mineral composition mixed with sand or sawdust is suitable.

In the cold season, immature young juniper shrubs should be covered with spruce branches, even in the mild climate of the Moscow region. Growing a plant to an adult state takes two to three years. After the specified period, an adult plant can be transplanted to a permanent place. For this purpose, a volumetric box on a window or balcony is suitable if it is supposed to grow juniper at home. The place must be sunny - this is important to preserve the decorative qualities of the shrub.

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4 Reproduction

Juniper can be propagated using seeds or vegetatively. But since ornamental plants are not obtained from seeds, the optimal type of reproduction is cuttings.

For this procedure, adult shrubs from 7 to 10 years old should be used. Reproduction is best done in mid-spring.

Juniper cuttings

Step-by-step algorithm for correct grafting:

1. 1. Cuttings from 8 to 10 cm in length are cut from the bush with the obligatory capture of a piece of wood, which is called "heel".
2. 2. The lower part of the cutting should be cleaned of needles and carefully trimmed the bark.
3. 3. The shoot is placed in a container with a growth stimulator solution for 24 hours.
4. 4. After that, the cutting is planted in a planting mixture consisting of a mixture of sand and peat.
5. 5. It is recommended to cover the pot with a thick film and put it in a semi-dark place for a month and a half at a temperature of +20 degrees. It is in such conditions and during this period that the root system develops in the juniper.
6. 6. After the specified time, the plants can be planted in a flower pot, if you plan to grow at home, or in open ground.

A dwarf coniferous shrub with a domed crown, graceful spreading branches - this is the description of one of the most common horticultural crops. Juniper Blue Star really looks like a pretty blue star. It can be planted in gardens and parks, recreation areas. This is a relatively unpretentious plant. How to choose the shoots of blue-blue juniper Blue Star? Planting and caring for a plant is the topic of this article!

Description

This variety owes its name to the unusual color of young shoots - they are bright turquoise. Growing back, the needles acquire a deeper and more calm shade, but the color remains. The plant, thanks to its shape and color, is actively used by landscape designers to create amazing compositions. Usually, in addition to the Blue Star dwarf scaly juniper, the creeping and horizontal varieties are usually included in the group. This is the most common decoration of rocky gardens. And its diminutiveness allows you to create whimsical compositions on roofs, balconies, terraces and loggias.

Blue Star grows extremely slowly. In a year, its growth rarely exceeds 6-8 cm in height and 10-13 cm in width. The height of an adult plant is usually about a meter, and its diameter does not exceed two meters. The needles of this juniper are short, prickly and poisonous.

Soil selection and planting

Have you decided to purchase Blue Star juniper for your site? Planting and caring for this plant will not be difficult, even for novice gardeners.

The first thing to do is choose a location for the bush. Blue Star prefers lighted areas. In the shade, it loses color, and the needles become loose. When planting more than two junipers on a plot, it is very important to maintain a distance of 0.5 to 2 m between the bushes.The pit for a young plant should be twice the size of an earthen coma, and for an adult culture, coaling of 70 cm is required.It is recommended to put sand on the bottom or broken brick.Ideal earthen mixture for juniper: 2 parts peat and one part fertile soil and sand.

Juniper care

Blue Star juniper is resistant to both drought and frost. But in dry times, the shrub needs abundant watering. In gratitude for proper care, he will delight with a dense crown and rich color. One adult juniper needs about 15-25 liters of water, it is better to water the plant 3-4 times a season. And once a week, Blue Star can be sprayed, it is best to do this after sunset.

In the first two years, the juniper must be covered for the winter. In the third year of life, this procedure is no longer necessary. If heavy snowfall is expected, it is worth carefully tying the branches with twine.

Reproduction

Juniper Blue Star, planting and caring for which you are now familiar, can be propagated by cuttings. A plant of 8-10 years old is excellent for these purposes.

In the period from the end of April to mid-May, it is necessary to cut off young cuttings, the height of which is 10 cm.At the same time, a piece of wood should remain on them. The lower half is cleared of needles, the bark is trimmed with scissors. After that, you can put the cuttings in a growth stimulator for a day. Then the twigs need to be planted in a pot, in a mixture of sand and peat (in a 1: 1 ratio), covered with foil and left in a shady place for a month. When the root system develops in the shrub, it must be planted in the ground. After three years, you can replant the plant to a permanent place.

Juniper Blue Star: a description of diseases and pests

The most common disease of all junipers is rust. The needles become unattractive, red, the shrub becomes bald. The reason for this may be unfavorable ecology, waterlogging of the soil, raids of cats and dogs on the site. At the first signs of this disease, it is necessary to plant the Blue Star from other shrubs, remove all damaged branches. The plant should be treated with immunostimulants. Experts recommend three times spraying with "Arcerid". For 10 liters of water, 50 grams of this product will be needed.

Aphids, scale insects, spider mites and miner moths pose a threat to juniper of this variety. Means such as "Fitoverm", "Decis", "Karate" will help to get rid of pests.

Now that you are familiar with Blue Star juniper, planting and caring for this shrub, you can create a real paradise in your garden!