Content
Thuja and juniper are evergreen coniferous plants that have beneficial properties. If you plant them in the garden, with their phytoncides they will clear the air of bacteria and fill the space with a charming aroma. But many gardeners do not understand these plants, so the article will outline the differences between thuja and juniper.
What is the difference between juniper and thuja
Both thuja and juniper are representatives of the same Cypress family, which explains their external similarity. These are the most ancient plants that appeared on earth and have survived to this day. In one place, unpretentious plants, with proper care, can grow for centuries. That is why designers paid attention to these conifers.
Thuja and juniper actually have some similarities, so novice gardeners may not always be able to tell them apart. Both evergreens have similar scale-like needles, which have nothing in common with ordinary coniferous trees and shrubs.
If you look carefully at the modified leaves, you can see the difference. Juniper needles remain in the form of needles throughout their life. And the needles of the thuja gradually change, becoming scaly.
Looking at the crown, it is also difficult to immediately figure out where the thuja is and where the juniper is. Thanks to pruning, they can be pyramidal, columnar or spherical. There are varieties of both types of conifers that can be grown not only in the garden, but also in the apartment.
What is the difference between thuja and juniper
To understand which plant to choose for the garden, you need to learn to distinguish thuja from juniper by biological characteristics. We need to talk about them in more detail.
Thuja
Thuja is a tree-like plant and develops very quickly. An adult tree grows up to 6 m, with a girth of about 70 cm. In garden plots, thuja is grown in the shape of a pyramid or a shrub, the branches of which are located in the same plane. The shape of the tree depends on the selected variety. Despite its high frost resistance, no one has yet succeeded in growing thuja in the Far North in open ground.
Thuja can be distinguished by its gray smooth trunk. An old tree's bark changes. Longitudinal fibers appear on it, which peel off in the form of narrow ribbons.
Needles with small scales are pressed tightly against each other. Thuja branches are short, cones 7-12 cm long are formed on them. Each of them, as a rule, contains 2 seeds.
All parts of the plant are useful:
- Thuja needles are rich in resins, essential oils, tannins and flavonoids.
- Seeds are a storehouse of essential oils.
- Thuja wood contains toxifylline and aromadendrin.
Medicinal and homeopathic preparations are prepared from thuja:
- Representatives of oriental medicine have long used parts of thuja for treatment.
- Healers in Rus' healed people from cystitis, prostate, rheumatic pain, and urinary incontinence.
- With the help of medicines prepared from thuja, you can get rid of worms, papillomas, and warts.
- Lubrication with folk remedies based on thuja promotes the resorption of postoperative scars, whitens the skin, and saves it from inflammatory processes.
Juniper
The height of an adult juniper is greater than that of a thuja - this is also one of the differences. Typically, junipers grow up to 7-8 m, and sometimes up to 15 m, depending on the variety. There are also low-growing creeping shrubs. They are used as ground cover plants for landscaping.
Juniper has a trunk with a large number of branches on which there are sharp and hard needles. Each ring contains 3 modified leaves.
In spring, dioecious flowers appear on the plant:
- male inflorescences have the shape of earrings;
- female ones are represented by round cones.
Juniper blooms begin in May, and fruits appear only the next year, late in autumn. These are small berries, the surface of which is covered with a bluish coating. Each berry usually contains 3 seeds.
Under natural conditions, junipers can be found in forests, on mountains, in floodplains and swamps. This plant found its way into gardens in ancient times due to its beneficial properties. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians were the first to begin treatment with juniper-based remedies.
Today, medicines are prepared from juniper berries. You can always buy juniper essential oil at the pharmacy. Traditional healers heal their patients using decoctions, tinctures, and syrups.There is no area of medicine in which juniper berries would not have an effect. The fruits are widely used by chefs as a spice for making vodka and liqueur.
What are the benefits of juniper:
- The fruits contain various sugars (40%), resins (10%), essential oils (2%). In terms of acid content (formic, acetic, malic), as well as vitamin C and camphor, juniper fruits are many times superior to other berries.
- The needles contain ascorbic and rhodizonic acid. It is due to them that the bactericidal effect is ensured. The essential oils of this conifer are more powerful than other trees.
How to distinguish thuja from juniper
- Common juniper.
- Thuja.
To choose thuja or juniper seedlings and not make a mistake, you need to learn to distinguish plants visually:
- Firstly, conifers have different needles.
- Secondly, they differ in size and height.
- Thirdly, you need to learn to distinguish plants by their cones. Thuja is characterized by oval or oblong cones, on which there are 2 or 6 pairs of scales. And in juniper the fruit is called a coneberry. They are spherical in shape, inside which there are 1-10 seeds (depending on the type).
- Fourthly, plants differ in height and shape: both types can be represented by trees or shrubs.
Use in landscape design
Having learned to distinguish between thuja and juniper by appearance and biological characteristics, the gardener decides for himself whether it is worth planting these trees on the site.If a positive decision is made, you need to understand the features of the landscape use of coniferous plants. Both thuja and juniper are capable of improving the area and giving it an unusual look. But to do this, you need to understand the rules for using evergreen conifers in the design of a summer cottage.
Uses of juniper
Junipers can be placed singly, as tapeworms, or planted in groups at a certain distance. These plants can be included in various compositions with deciduous and coniferous trees, with flowering wild plants.
Experienced gardeners advise growing these conifers in threes, in the form of a triangle. In the lower tier, creeping varieties of junipers can be planted with pyramidal plants.
Trees look great on alpine hills and rockeries. But juniper plants are practically not used as hedges, since junipers grow slowly relative to thuja.
If the site has sliding slopes or slopes, plants can be planted on them to strengthen the soil.
There are many types of juniper that grow horizontally. They are used as ground cover plants.
Thuja in landscape design
Thuja, like juniper, has long been used by landscape designers. These evergreens will enliven any garden not only in summer, but also in winter. With its help, you can create mini-parks (naturgardens), plant trees or shrubs separately.
Tall thujas decorate landscape terraces. Dwarf varieties look great in flower beds, rock gardens and alpine hills. These conifers can withstand low temperatures, so they can be grown in harsh climates.
Arborvitae bushes are great for creating hedges. For this purpose, the following varieties are most often used:
- Brabant;
- Emerald;
- Columna.
Thujas become a real decoration after cutting. The crown can be given various shapes and animal figures can be cut out.
Features of cultivation
Arborvitae and junipers are unpretentious plants that are successfully grown in almost all regions of Russia. The agricultural technology of these conifers is largely similar, although there are some differences.
Juniper care
Junipers can be planted both in sunny places and in slight shade. To preserve the beautiful crown and color of the needles, you need to care for the plant, following the rules.
The end of winter and the beginning of autumn can cause sunburn. It's all about the activity of the star. To prevent the needles from burning out, you need to take care of shading during these periods. You can throw burlap or install screens.
Watering
Newly planted young junipers need to be watered regularly and abundantly, preventing the top layer of soil from drying out. After all, the roots are located close to the surface.
Those trees that are already well rooted, as well as mature plants, do not need watering if the rainy season. In dry and hot summers, pour 1-3 buckets of water under each plant (depending on the age of the conifer). To prevent the needles from drying out, it is necessary to sprinkle.
Top dressing
As for fertilizing, juniper plantings do not particularly need them. You should never feed organics.At first, only young trees are fed at the beginning of the growing season with nitroammophos, potassium nitrate or other complex fertilizer intended for coniferous plants.
Trimming
Unlike many garden plants, juniper does not need to be pruned. Although there are varieties, for example, Skyrocket, which without this procedure look unkempt and shaggy. This crop needs to be cut to give it a certain shape.
In early spring and late autumn, the tree needs to be cleaned and damaged and dry branches removed.
Protection from diseases and pests
Juniper practically does not suffer from anything; on the contrary, thanks to its smell, it is able to repel pests from other garden crops.
But it is not always possible to protect plantings from fungal diseases. That is why it is necessary to carry out preventive treatments of juniper with special fungicidal preparations, for example, Topsin-M.
Thuja care
Caring for thuja is easy. After all, the plant is unpretentious. All activities for caring for thuja boil down to watering, fertilizing, protection from diseases and pests.
Watering rules
Thuja is demanding on irrigation; it needs to be regularly watered at the root and sprinkling to wash off dust and protect the needles from burning out. Plan an event for the morning or evening. After watering, you need to remove weeds and loosen the soil.
How to feed
The first feeding of thuja is carried out six months after planting the seedlings. To do this, use ammonium nitrate, urea or special fertilizers for conifers.
Trimming
Thuja needs formative (autumn) and sanitary (early spring, before sap flow) pruning.In addition, you need to remove dried branches and needles inside the crown so that the tree can breathe.
For the winter, both thuja and juniper need to be wrapped with rope, as in the photo.
What is better to choose
Thuja and juniper look great in any area. The main thing is to choose the right place and follow the peculiarities of agricultural technology.
Conclusion
Knowing the differences between thuja and juniper and the rules for growing them, you can create a unique landscape design. Which plant to choose depends on the preferences of the owners. You should also know that you can create beautiful topiaries from thuja plantings.
