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Blue Alps juniper has been used for landscaping for many years. It can be found in the vastness of the Caucasus, Crimea, Japan, China and Korea. The variety is undemanding in care, so even a beginner can cope with growing it in a summer cottage.
Description of juniper Blue Alps
Juniper Blue Alps belongs to the ornamental evergreen coniferous plants. This is a shrub belonging to the Cypress family, which is popularly called “heather”. The plant is considered long-lived. Under favorable conditions, its lifespan ranges from 300 to 6000 years.
Description of Chinese juniper Blue Alps:
- The color of an adult shrub is emerald with a silver-gray tint.
- The branches are powerful, lush, with massive, hard, prickly needles, stretching upward. The needles are pointed, small, up to 1 cm in length.
- The plant can be either monoecious or dioecious.
- During fruiting, black-green cones with a whitish coating appear on the tree.The diameter of the cones is 5 - 10 mm, they consist of 4 - 8 scales and contain 2 - 3 seeds.
- The height of the Blue Alps juniper by the age of ten is about 3 - 4 m, and the diameter of the crown reaches 2 m.
- The branches grow 10–20 cm per year.
The Blue Alps juniper variety is highly frost-resistant, easy to care for, light-loving, and can be grown on poorly fertile, dry soils.
Juniper Blue Alps in landscape design
As you can see from the photo, Chinese juniper Blue Alps is a neat and compact tree, which is why it is often used in landscape design. Its textured emerald needles and dark cones, as if dusted with snow, attract the gaze of others.
It looks great both alone and in the vicinity of other coniferous and deciduous low-growing plants and stones.
You can build something like a “hedge” from shrubs, for which you need to trim it regularly, gradually giving it the desired shape. Blue Alps juniper is also widely used as a garden bonsai.
The Blue Alps variety is often planted in rose gardens, rock gardens and rock gardens, on terraces and lawns. The plant is adapted to growing in a polluted environment. It can be found both in landscaped urban areas and in flowerbeds of suburban summer cottages.
Planting and caring for Blue Alps juniper
When purchasing seedlings, you should take into account that a plant with an open root system is replanted only in a certain period, from late April to early May. Seedlings with closed roots are more viable, so they can be planted throughout the whole season.
Preparing seedlings and planting area
A bright, ventilated, sun-warmed place is suitable as a planting site. If the plant is constantly in the shade, the needles begin to turn yellow and fall off. However, exposing juniper to bright midday sunlight is also undesirable.
The soil should be nutritious and well moistened. They mainly use light soils with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction (5 - 7 pH): sandy loam, loamy.
The first step is to dig a hole for planting. Its volume depends on the length of the roots of the existing seedling. As a rule, it should be 2 times the size of the root ball, since the roots need space to develop further. The bottom of the pit is filled with drainage: crushed stone, expanded clay or broken brick. Layer thickness - at least 20 cm.
If the soil in the garden plot is too dense and clayey, the holes are filled with nutrient substrate:
- humus (2 parts);
- peat (2 parts);
- sand (1 part);
- a little fertilizer for coniferous plants.
The soil must be pre-moistened, and the seedlings themselves must be treated with root formation stimulants.
Landing rules
When planting Blue Alps juniper, you must adhere to the following rules:
- The distance between seedlings is at least 0.5 - 2 m.
- The seedlings are placed in pre-prepared holes to a depth of approximately 70 cm.
- The average size of the planting hole is 0.5 - 0.8 m.
- It is important not to deepen the root collar too much, leaving it on the surface.
- From above, the earth is sprinkled around with a thick layer of mulch consisting of moss or sawdust.
- After planting, Blue Alps juniper requires abundant watering for a week.
- Planting in lowlands and areas of stagnant water is not recommended.
- The proximity to climbing plants is unfavorable.
- Immediately after planting, it is recommended to shade the juniper from direct sunlight, as it can burn the still immature seedling.
Watering and fertilizing
Caring for Blue Alps juniper includes feeding and watering.
Watering is done infrequently, in dry summers 2 or 3 times, 10 - 30 liters per plant. Young individuals need to be watered more often.
Once a week in the evenings, the Blue Alps juniper is sprayed with cool water, since dry air has a detrimental effect on it. This procedure is called sprinkling.
Feeding is usually carried out 1 – 2 times a year. Despite the fact that the plant is unpretentious and can develop without additional soil fertilization, regular fertilizing helps accelerate growth rates, improve appearance and strengthen the needles.
Mineral fertilizing is alternated with organic fertilizing. Organic is used to prepare juniper for the winter season. In the spring, before the start of the active growth phase, gardeners recommend using nitrophoska as a mineral fertilizer at a rate of 30 - 50 g per plant.
Mulching and loosening
To provide juniper roots with access to oxygen, it is necessary to frequently shallowly loosen the soil around the trunk. Loosen the soil once a month, carefully so as not to damage the juniper roots.It is better to do this after the soil is moistened and all disease-provoking plants weeds weeding.
After planting, the soil around the Blue Alps juniper is covered 4–7 cm with a layer of mulch made from peat, pine bark, moss, nutshells or sawdust. Mulching is also carried out in the winter. After which, in early spring, the mulch layer is removed, since it can cause rotting of the root collar.
Pruning Blue Alps juniper
Since Blue Alps juniper does not grow very quickly, it is important to be careful when cutting it and use well-sharpened tools. Pruning makes the crown denser.
The first pruning is done before the juniper enters the active growth phase, in March or early April. The main thing is that the air temperature does not fall below 4 degrees.
For the second, August or early September is suitable, since before the onset of frost, a dense bark should already have formed on the young shoots.
All dry, damaged branches must be removed and the desired crown type must be gradually formed: spherical or elongated. However, you can trim no more than 1/3 of the annual growth.
Preparing for winter
Despite the fact that Blue Alps juniper is famous for its winter hardiness, it is recommended to cover young seedlings with spruce branches for the winter to provide protection from snow and wind.
Frost resistance increases with age. Adults are mulched, and those growing alone are surrounded with temporary protection to protect the branches from breakage. To do this, they are pressed to the trunk using tape or rope.
Propagation of juniper Blue Alps
The Chinese juniper plant Blue Alps is propagated in several ways. The main method is vegetative, using cuttings.
Cuttings | Seed propagation |
Blue Alps juniper cuttings are carried out before the first buds appear. Cuttings about 10 - 12 cm in length are separated along with the “heel”, treated with root growth stimulants and planted in a mixture of chernozem, sand and pine needles, taken in equal proportions. A drainage layer of at least 10 cm is placed at the bottom. Cuttings are planted to a depth of 2 cm in moistened soil. For maximum efficiency, you can build a greenhouse. Juniper sprouts need regular ventilation and sprinkling. Rooting occurs in about 2 months. | With the seed propagation method, varietal characteristics are poorly transmitted. During spring sowing, stratification is carried out, after which the seeds are planted in the same mixture. The next year the first seeds begin to sprout. Upon reaching the age of three, they are planted in the ground. Freshly harvested juniper seeds can be sifted directly into open ground before winter, having previously subjected them to scarification (immersed in sulfuric acid concentrate for 30 minutes). |
Diseases and pests of Chinese juniper Blue Alps
Diseases of juniper Blue Alps:
- Fungal infection caused by excessive soil moisture. The disease is most common among young individuals. The fungus in the soil is activated in conditions of high humidity, leading to the death of the plant. First of all, the roots of the juniper are affected, then the vascular system: the bush shrinks, starting from the top. It is not possible to cure juniper. It must be destroyed and the soil replaced.
- Rust, accompanied by the appearance of brown seals on the branches. If signs of disease are detected, diseased branches should be removed and destroyed using sterile garden shears. Treat juniper with fungicide.
- Alternaria, a sign of which is the appearance of brown and yellowish needles. As a rule, the reason is a lack of ventilation between the trees or too dense planting. The disease begins from the lower branches; if measures are not taken, the entire juniper bush may die. The affected parts are removed and the sections are disinfected.
Pests:
- moth;
- juniper scale;
- snails;
- red ants;
- juniper honeydew
Control insects using a variety of insecticides. When processing, not only the plant is shed, but also the entire soil around it. After 2 weeks, the procedure should be repeated, since there may be larvae in different stages of development in the soil.
Conclusion
Juniper Blue Alps is undemanding in care. It will delight its owner with bright emerald foliage all year round. Due to its decorative appearance, the plant is widely used among gardeners and professional landscape designers.
