Juniper is very popular in gardening and is often used by landscape designers. Thanks to its high decorative qualities, it will easily fit into any composition, especially in Japanese or Chinese style. And this is not surprising, because Japan, China, Korea and Mongolia are considered the birthplace of junipers. One of the varieties of shrubs has a stunning blue-green hue of needles - this is Chinese stricta juniper . Caring for it requires some effort and a careful approach, but in general it is quite simple. Junipers have a number of useful qualities. Firstly, they clean and disinfect the air, like many other conifers. Secondly, its roots, berries and shoots are actively used in folk medicine. This is an evergreen plant, therefore, branches, for example, for a sauna or bath can be used all year round. Juniper brooms are very popular and useful, they contribute to good blood circulation.
Varieties of Chinese Juniper
There are not so many species, they differ mainly in the shape of the crown and in height, which is reached in our climate. Junipers prefer a natural environment and a clean atmosphere, but among them there are varieties adapted to the city's gas pollution: Blauw (has gray-green needles, a columnar shape), Blue Alps (silver-blue needles, quite high - up to 4 m.), Plumoza aurea (the color changes depending on the season, in the summer it is golden green, and in the autumn it is bronze yellow). There is also a very unusual variety of Globosa, which has a spherical shape, it is stunted and reaches a height of only one meter. Juniper Chinese Stricta Variegata is a variety with an unusual color of needles.
In height, the bush can grow up to two meters. The color is variegated, among the green shoots an abundant interspersing of cream-colored branches. It looks very interesting and unusual. It is easy to reproduce with the help of layering. Variety Spartan is large and grows up to 6 meters in height, has a beautiful pyramidal crown shape and bright, deep green needles.
Streak Juniper: Description of the species
This is one of the many species of the Junipers genus, united in a large Cypress family. Unlike many brothers, it is very miniature, grows only up to 1.8-2 meters in height and about 80 cm in diameter. The branches are thin, but very densely covered with needles of a bluish tint. Therefore, Stricta juniper has a very dense, even, cone-shaped crown. The "miniature" size allows you to use it both as a live low hedge and on alpine slides, for rocky gardens in the Japanese style. It grows very slowly, the growth is only 5-7 cm per year. Berries or, as they are called by botanists, pine cones, have a rich dark blue color with a white coating.
In dried, whole or ground form, they are actively used in cooking as a seasoning for marinades, meat, fish and sauces. If you want to combine useful qualities and beauty, then choose Strict juniper. Caring for him is simple but thorough. But decorativeness doubles all efforts.
Juniper Stricta: planting and care
Choose a sunny place for it, but keep in mind that the young plant will first have to be covered from scorching rays. If your site is weakly acidic or neutral, then Chinese stricta juniper is ideal for landscaping. Planting seedlings can be carried out both in autumn and spring. If you buy a young plant that has an open root system, then it is best to plant it in early spring, before the buds begin to bloom. As the experience of many gardeners shows, it is best to buy stricta juniper in containers, then you can plant it at any time, except in extreme heat.
In addition, such plants adapt much better to new conditions and move faster to growth. You need to plant at a distance of a meter from each other, if this is a group composition. They dig a hole depending on the size of the root system, an average of 70 by 70 cm, or twice as much an earthen coma. At the bottom, it is necessary to pour drainage of brick chips or coarse river sand. Gardening experts advise the following universal composition for junipers: turf land, peat and sand in a ratio of 1: 2: 1. After planting, the plant must be watered, and the upper perinar section of the soil should be mulched. You can use crushed pine bark, cones, wood chips for this. This will improve the growth conditions and give even greater decorativeness to the plant.
Watering and feeding
Streak Juniper is not demanding on watering. And only in the driest and hottest summer can it be watered three or four times during the whole season, water consumption from 10 to 30 liters for an adult plant, depending on size and age. But it does not tolerate dry air, so it would be nice if you periodically spray it, you only need to do this after sunset or in the early morning. Juniper does not need to be fed too hard, it will be enough to add nitroammophos in the period of active growth.
Pruning and shelter for the winter
Juniper does not require trimming, it is already growing quite slowly. Therefore, only dry or diseased twigs should be removed. The plant is frost-resistant, but the youngest instances of the first 2 years of growth for the winter are best covered. The only thing you need to do with large trees is to tie them with twine so that the branches do not break from heavy snow. If you still fear for an adult plant, then you can cover the pericarp circle with spruce or pine spruce branches.
Propagation by cuttings
Many plants propagate by cuttings, including Strickt juniper. Landing and caring for them is a very easy task. This quality, by the way, favorably distinguishes it from the total mass of coniferous plants, which are extremely difficult and almost impossible to propagate with branches from the mother specimen. Cuttings should be cut in mid-summer, in June, from the branches of the juniper crown. All lateral processes must be removed and the bark removed from the bottom with a sharp knife. Root them in a mixture of peat with river sand. It is necessary to withstand young seedlings in a dark room, and only after rooting gradually accustom to the sun.
Propagation by layering
This method is most suitable for creeping species of juniper. In the spring, for this, you need to dig shallow grooves near the plant, fill them with a wet mixture of peat with earth and sand. They spread the shoots that spread on the ground, sprinkle lightly with soil, and pinch the top of the branch. In the spring of next year it is separated from the mother plant and transplanted to a permanent place.
Diseases and Pests
The most dangerous fungal disease for juniper is rust. It is possible to deal with it quite successfully if you use Arcerida-type preparations in time, spraying should be carried out with a frequency of ten days.
Of the pests, juniper most often damages the spider mite, juniper scutellum and aphid. For timely treatment of the plant, you need to carefully monitor it and, if necessary, immediately treat it with insecticides. You need to spray trees and shrubs adjacent to junipers. The nursery of aphids is most often garden roses.
Garden place
It is possible and even necessary to use Strickt juniper in the design of your site. Reviews of landscape designers about this plant are positive, this is due, first of all, to unpretentiousness to the soil, watering, cold resistance and high decorativeness. With a developed and powerful root system, the juniper will hold the soil well - this can be used to prevent erosion in individual areas.
Application in the landscape also depends on the variety. If you choose high varieties, then they will look great both in group plantings and singly. Stricta Juniper is used in solitary and heather plantings. Creeping forms are good to use on alpine slides or rockeries. Shrub forms are suitable for creating hedges. All junipers look good in group planting with other conifers, for example, dwarf, mountain pine or Christmas tree.
Juniper Bonsai
Many people are familiar with the Bonsai technique; this is a rather laborious and lengthy process, which results in an exact copy of a large tree in miniature. Very often they receive miniature copies of a very unusual and amazingly beautiful form. Streak Juniper is ideally suited for this, and this is not surprising: they have only one homeland with bonsai art - China.
The main task is to restrain growth by pruning roots, sparse soil, a small amount of earthen coma, and minimal feeding. To give the plant a bizarre shape, pinch it, trim it during the entire growing season, and also use a wire to give the trunk the necessary shape. Buy already grown bonsai - Stricta Juniper. Caring for it is much easier. Remember that this is still not an indoor plant, and the best place for it would be a terrace or a greenhouse. Someone considers this an art, but there are those who regard this method of cultivation as mockery of a plant.
In Asia, they believed that the smell of burning juniper branches frightens away evil spirits, and according to Feng Shui this plant perfectly “cleanses” the space from negative energy, therefore it is advised to plant it around the perimeter of the site. And if you plant a tree under the windows of the bedroom, it helps to find peace and harmony in family life. True or not, but juniper is really one of the best decorations of the garden.