Creeping juniper

Sun

Full sun; shade produces thinner growth and more bare patches.

Water

Water regularly while establishing, allowing the soil to dry slightly between waterings. Established plants usually need watering only during prolonged drought.

Soil

Well-drained sandy, gravelly or loamy soil; tolerates poor soil and a broad pH range. Avoid waterlogged sites and heavy clay unless drainage is improved.

Height

0.5-1.5 ft (0.15-0.45 m)

Spread

6-10 ft (1.8-3 m), depending on cultivar and growing conditions

Foliage

Evergreen. Fine-textured, mostly scale-like foliage in green, blue-green or silvery blue, depending on cultivar. Some forms turn bronze or purple in winter. Female plants may bear small, blue, berry-like cones.

Growth

Slow to moderate; varies considerably by cultivar.

Care needed

Low

• Plant with the root flare at soil level and leave enough room for the mature spread.
• Water deeply during the first growing season, then reduce watering as roots establish.
• Remove perennial weeds before planting and hand-weed between branches while plants fill out.
• Apply a thin mulch around young plants, keeping it away from the crown and avoiding burial of low branches.
• Feed only if growth is weak and a soil test indicates a deficiency; rich feeding is usually unnecessary.

Pruning. In spring, remove dead or damaged shoots and shorten stray branches back to a leafy side shoot. Do not cut into bare old wood, which usually will not produce new growth.

Early spring

Check for winter damage and prune dead shoots back to healthy, leafy growth.

Spring

Plant when the ground is workable; water thoroughly and keep surrounding soil free of weeds.

Late spring

Inspect shoot tips for browning and remove diseased growth during dry weather.

Summer

Water young plants during dry spells and check foliage for spider mites in hot, dusty conditions.

Late summer

Take semi-ripe cuttings from healthy shoots if you want to propagate a particular cultivar.

Autumn

Remove fallen leaves caught in the foliage and check that water drains away from the crown.

• Cover sunny slopes with a continuous evergreen carpet; weed carefully until the plants join up.
• Let trailing branches spill over low retaining walls or soften the edges of rock gardens.
• Use blue-leaved forms beside ornamental grasses and stone for contrasting colour and texture.
• Plant along broad gravel-bed edges where the branches can spread without obstructing paths.

Garden styles it suits: Low-maintenance, Dry gravel garden, Desert / xeriscape, Coastal, Alpine rock garden and Winter interest.

Plant it with: Creeping phlox, Stonecrop, Catmint, Blue fescue, Dwarf mugo pine and Bearded iris.

Wildlife: Dense branches provide low shelter for small animals. Birds eat the berry-like cones on female plants. Wind-pollinated flowers offer little value to nectar-feeding insects.

• Root rot in wet soil: improve drainage or move the plant to a raised, free-draining site; badly affected plants usually need replacing.
• Juniper tip blight: prune out dead tips in dry weather, clean tools between plants and avoid overhead watering.
• Spider mites in hot, dry conditions: check stippled or bronzing foliage and dislodge mites with a firm spray of water; use a labelled horticultural soap if needed.
• Bare centres or thinning growth from shade and crowding: improve sunlight and spacing; bare old branches rarely regrow, so severely affected plants may need replacing.

Do not eat the foliage or berry-like cones or use them as culinary juniper berries. Juniper material can cause stomach upset if eaten by people, cats or dogs, and the foliage may irritate sensitive skin. Species-specific toxicity information for horses is limited; keep plants and clippings out of their feed.

• Japanese garden juniper (Juniperus procumbens)

  Usually has conspicuous prickly, needle-like leaves in whorls of three; creeping juniper has mainly small, overlapping scale leaves on mature shoots.

• Shore juniper (Juniperus conferta)

  Has longer, stiff, pointed needles with a pale stripe above, giving it a coarser and pricklier appearance than creeping juniper.

• Siberian cypress (Microbiota decussata)

  Has soft, flattened, fan-like sprays that commonly turn copper-brown in winter; creeping juniper generally has finer, less flattened branchlets and may produce blue berry-like cones.

The species name horizontalis refers to its horizontal, spreading branches, which also explain the common name creeping juniper.

Propagation. Root semi-ripe cuttings in late summer in a free-draining propagation mix; rooting can be slow. Low branches sometimes root where they touch soil and can be separated once well rooted. Seed-grown plants vary and will not reliably match named cultivars.

Accepted botanical name

Juniperus horizontalis

In the US and Canada

Native in Alaska, Canada, the lower 48 states and St. Pierre and Miquelon.

Native range

Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Labrador, Manitoba, Masachusettes, Michigan, Minnesota and Montana.

Measured

Soil pH 5.5 to 7.8. Average height 76 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.