Mother Lode juniper

Sun

Full sun gives the strongest gold colour; light shade is tolerated but produces greener, less dense growth.

Water

Water regularly while establishing, allowing the soil to dry somewhat between waterings. Once established, water during prolonged drought rather than little and often.

Soil

Well-drained sandy, gravelly or loamy soil; tolerates poor soil and a broad pH range. Avoid waterlogged ground and compacted clay.

Height

0.25-0.5 ft (0.08-0.15 m)

Spread

3-5 ft (0.9-1.5 m), eventually wider where branches have room to spread

Foliage

Fine, closely packed, scale-like evergreen foliage; golden yellow in good light, often becoming bronze-orange or brownish gold in winter.

Growth

Slow to moderate, spreading mainly sideways.

Care needed

Low

• Deer resistant
• Drought tolerant
• Cold hardy
• Heat tolerant
• Wildlife
• Fragrant

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.1 ft (0.03 m)

2. After 1 year

   0.2 ft (0.06 m)

3. After 2 years

   0.3 ft (0.08 m)

4. After 3 years

   0.4 ft (0.11 m)

5. After 5 years

   0.4 ft (0.12 m)

   full size

About 3 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Mildly toxic: may upset a stomach

Native to

the US and Canada

Growth rate

Slow

• Water deeply through the first growing season whenever the root zone begins to dry.
• Keep weeds out while the plant fills its allotted space; remove them by hand to avoid damaging shallow branches.
• Use a thin gravel mulch or keep organic mulch clear of the crown and low foliage.
• Feed only if growth is weak; use a light application of balanced slow-release fertiliser in spring.
• Keep lawn sprinklers from repeatedly wetting the foliage and saturating the soil.

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

Spring

Plant once the soil is workable, choosing a sunny site with free drainage.

Mid-spring

Check for dead tips after winter and prune back to healthy, leafy growth.

Late spring

Pull weeds between spreading branches before they become established.

Summer

Water new plants during dry spells and check dusty foliage for spider mites.

Autumn

Remove fallen leaves caught in the mat so foliage stays airy and dry.

Winter

Avoid walking on frozen branches; expect a seasonal bronze-orange colour change.

• Cover sunny banks with a low evergreen carpet that needs little routine pruning.
• Let branches trail over a low retaining wall or the edge of a raised bed.
• Use beside dark green conifers or blue-grey foliage for a clear colour contrast.
• Plant among rocks and gravel, leaving enough space for its full spread.

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

Plant it with: Blue fescue, Lavender, Catmint, Creeping thyme, Stonecrop and Dwarf mugo pine.

Wildlife: The dense mat provides shelter for ground-dwelling insects and other small animals. It is wind-pollinated and is not a useful nectar plant.

• Root rot in wet soil: improve drainage before planting and avoid frequent irrigation; remove badly affected plants.
• Juniper tip blight: prune out dying shoots in dry weather, clean tools between cuts and avoid overhead watering.
• Spider mites in hot, dry conditions: inspect stippled or bronzing foliage and rinse affected plants thoroughly with water; use a labelled mite treatment if damage continues.
• Brown, bare patches from shade or buried foliage: increase light where practical and clear leaves, mulch and encroaching plants from the mat.

Do not eat the foliage or any berry-like cones. Juniper foliage, cones and oils may cause stomach upset if eaten by people, cats or dogs, and the foliage can irritate sensitive skin. Toxicity of this cultivar to horses is not well documented; keep it out of grazing areas.

• Golden Carpet creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis 'Golden Carpet')

  Another flat, golden creeping juniper, usually with more yellow-green foliage. Colour overlaps with Mother Lode, so a reliable nursery label is the safest distinction.

• Limeglow juniper (Juniperus horizontalis 'Limeglow')

  Forms a noticeably taller, vase-shaped or mounded plant rather than Mother Lode's very flat carpet.

• Blue Chip creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chip')

  Has blue-grey rather than golden foliage, often developing purplish tones in winter.

Juniperus is the Latin name for juniper, and horizontalis describes the plant's horizontally spreading branches.

Propagation. Take semi-ripe cuttings in late summer, or layer a low branch and separate it once rooted. Seed will not reliably reproduce the cultivar.

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.