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Junipers are popular with gardeners around the world. There are many types of this coniferous plant. One of them is the Coastal Envelope Juniper. Description, characteristics, types of ephedra, features of agricultural technology will be presented below.
Description of coastal juniper
Coastal juniper (Juniperus conferta) is a representative of conifers listed in the Red Book. These are short shrubs growing on the same plane. The varieties are considered capricious, so not all gardeners decide to grow these plants.
Junipers on the site or in their natural environment form a thorny carpet, characterized by brightness. A coniferous plant belongs to the Cypress family, is dioecious, can reproduce by seed, less often by layering and cuttings.
All types and varieties of coastal juniper, descriptions and photos of which will be of interest to novice gardeners, are frost-resistant. That is why the geography of cultivation has affected almost all regions of Russia.
Coniferous plantings are especially beautiful in early summer, when young shoots grow on the bushes. This quality of the dwarf ephedra is widely used by landscape designers who use plants to decorate lawns, parks and private areas. Plants can be planted one at a time, used as ground cover plants when creating alpine slides, rockeries, hedges. Since the plants are undersized, they can be grown for landscaping terraces, balconies, roofs, loggias.
Coastal Juniper Varieties
Breeders have developed many new species of coastal juniper. In order not to be mistaken when choosing, you need to know the features of each of them.
The most common varieties:
- Sluger;
- Golden Wings;
- Blue Pacific;
- Silver Mist;
- Emerald Sia.
Juniper coastal Schlager (Slager)
A feature of the Konferta Slager creeping juniper, according to the description and reviews of gardeners, is its height. At the age of 10, the height is no more than 20 cm, and the crown grows up to 1 m.The height of more mature plants is no more than 50-60 cm.
Branches are red-brown. The needles are gray-green or dark green. The length of the needles is 10-15 mm, the width is 1 mm, the tips are prickly. Cones are dark blue, round in shape with a clearly visible bloom of bluish color.
Juniper coastal Golden Wings (Golden Wings)
This is a variety of low ephedra with creeping shoots, in which they are slightly raised at the very tips. The size of an adult Konferta Golden Wings juniper is about 30 cm high, and the crown diameter is 1 m.The plant is ornamental, it is distinguished by the two-color paint of the needles.
Shrubs are especially bright if they have enough sunlight. In partial shade, they lose their decorative effect. Coastal juniper responds gratefully to fertile soil, well-moistened soil. Stagnant water can lead to the death of shrubs.
One of the features of the coastal variety Golden Wings juniper is winter hardiness. The plant can be grown at a temperature of -35 degrees. But the bright sun in late winter and early spring can cause burns to the needles. Therefore, it is recommended to throw agrofibre on plantings. They remove the shelter after thawing the soil in calm weather.
Juniper coastal Blue Pacific
The coastal Blue Pacific juniper (Juniperus conferta Blue Pacific), according to gardeners, grows slowly. The representative of the Cypress family is a creeping shrub. Its height is no more than 40 cm, the crown grows in diameter to 1.8 m. This feature of the Blue Pacific juniper must be taken into account when planting and leaving.
Shoots form a dense and dense crown. The needles are green-blue, looks great at any time of the year, quite prickly and fragrant. When planted in an open place, the modified leaves are bright, juicy, but partial shade and shade can reduce the decorative effect of the juniper.
It is advisable to plant the shrub on slightly acidic, sandy, well-drained soils. The plant is drought-resistant, so you can plant a coastal juniper within the city. But excess moisture can destroy the plant.
Like many junipers, the evergreen Blue Pacific is a frost-resistant plant, so it can be safely grown in areas of risky farming, creating amazing compositions.
Juniper coastal Silver Mist
This variety of coastal juniper is the result of the activities of Japanese breeders.
The plant is compact, with silvery or blue-gray needles. The Silver Mist variety will look especially beautiful on alpine slides, next to water bodies, as an addition to landscape compositions, as well as when decorating garden paths.
The height of an adult coastal juniper Silver Mist is about 20-50 cm.The crown grows 80-90 cm wide.Every year the plant grows 7-10 cm in height, and 15-20 cm in width.
Skeletal branches of ephedra are of medium length, branching chaotically. Shoots are arranged horizontally and spread over the soil, creating an asymmetrical crown shape.
After flowering, fruits appear spherical, blue or green in color.
The coastal juniper is undemanding to the soil, although its decorative effect is better on slightly acidic soils with moderate moisture. Prefers lighted places, then the color appears better and does not change at any time of the year.
The evergreen juniper variety is frost-resistant, able to withstand short-term drought.
Juniper is specially placed around office buildings, hospitals and schools, as it exudes phytoncides that can purify the air.
Juniper coastal Emerald Sea (Emerald Sia)
This juniper variety is distinguished by a spreading crown, which is formed by long, creeping branches. An adult tree is never taller than 30 cm, but the crown simply delights - it grows up to 2.5 m in diameter.
The modified leaves (needles) are bluish-green, rather soft than thorny. In winter, decorativeness is slightly lost, yellowing of the needles is observed. The plant is frost-resistant, can grow on almost all soils. But dense soil and stagnant moisture when growing plants of the Emerald Sia variety are not allowed.
Planting and caring for coastal junipers
It is advisable to plant all types of coastal juniper in well-lit places; an openwork shade is also suitable.In these cases, the decorative effect of the needles is preserved.
Seedling and planting plot preparation
The best are the seedlings grown in containers. Such plants quickly take root and start growing. Plants should have the color of the needles corresponding to the variety, a well-developed root system. It is not allowed to use seedlings with numerous damage to the branches and signs of rot on the roots.
Immediately before planting, the soil in containers is watered abundantly to make it easier to remove the plant along with a clod of earth.
Before planting all types of juniper, the soil is dug up, after adding peat, sand, turf soil in a ratio of 2: 1: 1.
Landing rules
And now you need to figure out how to plant plants correctly:
- Planting pits are located at a distance of at least 1.5-2 m, since in adult plants of almost all varieties, the crown diameter is quite large.
- To determine the size of the pit, you need to focus on the root system of the seedling: it should be 2 times larger. The depth of the seat is from 50 to 70 cm.
- The bottom of the pit is filled with drainage: broken red brick, coarse pebbles and sand. The drainage layer must be at least 20 cm.
- Place a seedling in the center, sprinkle with prepared soil mixture. The root collar must remain above the surface!
- Immediately after planting, the coastal ephedra seedling is watered so that the water penetrates to the depth of the root system.
- On the second day, the soil is mulched to retain moisture.
Watering and feeding
Young plants need regular and abundant watering only in the first 7 days after planting. In the future, the procedure is performed only if there is no rain for a long time in the summer. But sprinkling is necessary for plants, since dry air can cause changes in the color of the needles.
As for dressings, they use special fertilizers for conifers or nitroammofosku, "Kemira-wagon", which are applied in the spring.
Mulching and loosening
To retain moisture, all juniper plantings must be mulched. Sawdust, wood chips up to 8 cm high can be added to the near-trunk circle. Loosening is also a mandatory procedure, but it is superficial, it is done after watering.
Trimming and shaping
For coastal juniper, sanitary and formative pruning is required. The first of them is carried out to remove damaged and dry branches. As for the shaping haircut, it is performed early in the spring before the juice begins to move. You can cut only a third of last year's growth. The sections are treated with a fungicide, then the plant is fed.
Preparing for winter
Despite the high frost resistance, the plants still need protection. The near-trunk circle is sprinkled with peat, the layer of which should be at least 10 cm. Young bushes are covered with spruce branches.
Reproduction
New seedlings can be obtained:
- seeds;
- cuttings.
For seed reproduction, only fresh seeds are used and sown immediately before winter. The planting material is hardly emerging and requires scarification. The seeds are treated for 30 minutes with concentrated sulfuric acid. Seedlings appear the next year in the spring.
In early spring, short cuttings with lateral heels are cut and immediately rooted. This is best done in a greenhouse as it is still cold in the spring. The transplant is carried out after a year, when a good root system is formed.
Diseases and pests
According to the description and reviews of gardeners, coastal juniper, including the Golden Wings variety, is resistant to many diseases.
But it is not always possible to avoid:
- fusarium and rust;
- drying out of branches;
- alternariosis and necrosis of the cortex.
It is necessary to carry out preventive treatments or treatment with fungicides or products containing copper.
Of the pests, it is worth noting the possible invasion of a spider mite, aphids, miner juniper moths and scale insects.
For the prevention of plantings in the spring and autumn are sprayed with insecticides.
Conclusion
The coastal juniper is able to decorate any garden, especially since the plants live for a very long time. In addition, all parts of the shrub are useful, they can be used for the preparation of medicines.
