The Green Carpet Juniper (Juniperus communis Green Carpet) is a classic variety popular with gardeners. The origin of the shrub is American-Canadian, and its name translates as "Green Carpet". The horizontally spreading plant really resembles a fluffy rug and looks very decorative.
Juniper Green Carpet - planting and care
Brief information about the variety
- Colour: green.
- Height: 20 cm.
- Crown width: 2 m.
- In which regions is it growing: the entire territory of Russia.
- Landing features: in a sunny place or in partial shade.
- Immunity: tall.
- Life span: up to 300 years.
Description of the plant
Green Carpet refers to the undersized or dwarf varieties. Its shoots branch well and intertwine, drooping to the ground.
The average height of such a bush is 20 cm. It can grow even more, but this requires an appropriate formation. The crown is cushion-shaped, with a diameter of about 2 m.
The needles are scaly and soft to the touch. In spring and summer it is bright green, in winter it gets dark.
The cones are dark blue with a waxy coating. They appear almost immediately and successfully complement the decorative look of the shrub.
The juniper is slow-growing, with an annual growth rate of 10-15 cm.
Growing regions
Due to its high frost resistance, this species can be grown throughout Russia. In the northern regions, juniper is insulated for the winter and covered with spruce branches.
When grown in the south, the plant needs more frequent watering, prevention of sunburn and protection from dry winds.
Landing
When choosing a juniper seedling, you should give preference to a closed root system.
The shoots of a healthy plant are green and elastic, with an increase in the current year. The bush should not have dry needles, dark or light spots, any damage.
Landing place
Common juniper Green Carpet is not only light-loving, but also shade-tolerant plant. He feels good in the sun (but not in direct sunlight) and in partial shade.
The shrub can grow in shade, but its crown will be less lush, and the color will not be as bright. It prefers loose, moderately moist soils with an acidic reaction, but it also tolerates slightly alkaline soils.
Landing technology
The plant needs sunlight
The planting hole is dug in advance (the width is 2 times the earthy clod of the seedling, the depth is 70 cm), a bucket of water is poured into it and allowed to soak. Garden land is combined with sand and peat in equal proportions.
When planting on dense soil, a drainage layer is required. It is made from broken clay brick, sand or expanded clay.
The plant is placed in a hole and watered, and then covered with the prepared substrate, leaving the root collar at ground level.
Care
Juniper of the Green Carpet variety is unpretentious. An adult plant tolerates droughts and frosts well, without requiring constant attention and frequent watering. He needs only minimal care for growth, preservation of decorativeness and prevention of diseases.
Watering
Water the plant, focusing on the condition of the soil. In cool summers with frequent precipitation, it does not need watering at all, but in the heat they are done weekly.
For an adult bush, 10-12 liters of water are used. To preserve the beauty of the needles, sprinkling is carried out in the evenings.
Top dressing
One spring feeding with complex fertilizers for conifers is enough for a shrub. The granules are laid out in a near-trunk circle or dissolved in water and watered. After severe frosts, illnesses or other stresses, the juniper can be sprayed with Epin.
Mulching and loosening
The culture needs to loosen the soil and weed from weeds only in the first season after planting. The same applies to mulching - sawdust, wood chips, peat or crushed bark can be poured into the near-stem circle of a young plant.
When the crown grows with a dense carpet, the bush does not need any mulch or loosening.
Pruning
Sanitary pruning is carried out every spring. At the same time, branches, damaged and frozen shoots are removed.
The juniper tolerates a shaping haircut well: it is often cut on the sides to give the crown a splendor and density.
Preparing for winter
Usually, an adult plant tolerates winter well without shelter, but in a strong blizzard it can be covered with spruce branches. Young seedlings are covered with burlap or other materials, and the trunk circle is insulated with peat.
In early spring, when the sun is especially bright, it is desirable to shade the juniper from burnout.
Reproduction
The most popular is reproduction by layering. The land next to the bush is loosened, peat is added, fertilized and watered. The shoot from the parent bush is bent to the soil and fixed.
Juniper can be propagated by layering
You can pre-clean the intended area of needles, make a shallow incision and sprinkle with Kornevin.
It takes 5-12 months before the roots appear. The twig is cut off and transplanted to a new location.
According to the description of gardeners, Green Carpet rooted well, therefore this method is much better than cuttings or propagation by seeds.
Diseases and pests
Green Carpet is distinguished by high immunity, due to which it rarely gets sick. However, with excessive moisture it can be attacked by fungi - fusarium, shute, rust.
Bordeaux liquid, Baktofit, Hom, Topsin are used to prevent infection. In case of damage, the diseased parts of the plant are removed, and the healthy ones are treated with fungicides.
Aphids and scale insects can harm the shrub. In the fight against them, insecticides Confidor, Aktara, Kallipso are used.
In spring, the beetle larvae are especially dangerous, eating the root system. They use drugs based on diazonin and neonicotinoids.
Application of landscaping
The possibilities of using Green Carpet in landscape design are truly inexhaustible. Green lawns made from this juniper are widely popular - they look very decorative and require almost no maintenance.
- It is often grown as the lower tier of combined compositions, used in coniferous mixborders.
- The shrub perfectly strengthens the slopes and slopes, it turns out attractive living curbs and pretty clumps.
- It looks very harmoniously near water bodies, among stones, in flower beds and rock gardens.
- Also, it is successfully combined with junipers of other shades (blue, golden, purple).
- Hydrangeas, spireas, viburnum, barberry and daylilies look beautiful against its background.
In essence, the shrub is the perfect highlight for any flowering plant.
With the appropriate formation, this species can be grown in a container way: such compositions are very effective and are suitable for landscaping balconies, terraces, small courtyards without planting land.
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Reviews
Among the indisputable advantages of the Green Carpet juniper, gardeners distinguish decorativeness, stability and extremely easy care.
Slow growth and a beautiful natural shape allows us to limit ourselves to only sanitary pruning, and thanks to the densely woven branches of a solid “carpet” weeds are not terrible and mulching is not necessary.
Gardeners recommend planting currant bushes next to this coniferous plant - not only for beauty, but also for the prevention of rust.
Many summer residents note that the bush cuttings root very well. According to some reviews, the shoot was simply pressed with a stone to the soil and roots appeared on it within a year.