Choosing And Pruning Juniper Shrubs

The juniper shrub is an excellent choice for creating a bit of variety in your garden and giving it an elegant touch. It has attractive foliage, comes in different shapes and sizes and if you choose the ground type, as opposed to the tree growing type, it will offer great ground coverage. Some of them even bloom or have comestible berries.

There are many to choose from, starting with the Alligator, Bermuda or Blue Chip Junipers, through Blue Star, Creeping, Durango and Mountain Junipers, all the way to the Sierra, Spartan, West Indies and Wichita Blue species.

After you get one and plant it you should water it to help it develop its roots, but never give it too much water as this will make the roots rot.

Pruning them is necessary and it should be done periodically in order to keep them healthy and in the desired shape and height. The best time to do it is late winter to early spring, when they don’t have flowers, otherwise you might damage the flowers.

The top branches should be kept smaller than the bottom ones so that it gets equal sun exposure. Be careful to cut only the green part of the branch because the woody part might not grow once it’s cut. Dead, broken, diseased or entwined branches should be removed, but careful not to cut five or six affected branches at one go.

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