The
Blue Rug Juniper is one of the most popular completely
flat junipers for groundcover, and is truly a 'Rug' of
a plant. It is easy to grow with good disease resistance.
'Blue Rug' has a bluish, generally
well-furnished form, mauve-tinted in winter. However,
if you are seeking a weed-suppressing conifer then this
is probably not the best to go for as its flat form is
not usually quite thick enough for this purpose. This
factor can be improved by trimming the trailing shoots.
The Blue Rug juniper has smooth,
adult-type foliage of a blue-silver colour. It is usually
dense and well-furnished. The growth rate is fairly quick,
a plant making up to 6 feet (2 metres) across in ten years
in good growing conditions, and very much less in height.
Note: probably needless to say and despite its name,
the Blue Rug juniper cannot be walked upon without damaging
the plant.
The Blue Rug Juniper is a form
of Juniperus horizontalis, which includes many prostrate
cultivars, as well as some slightly taller, bushier forms
such as the Andorra Juniper.
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Growing Conditions
In general the Blue Rug
juniper should be grown in well-drained soil, and
does fairly well in poor or impoverished soils.
It will not put up with water-logged conditions
or other plants growing over its foliage. It requires
full sun to do well.
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Use in the Garden
Due to its remarkably flat
growth, the Blue Rug juniper mixes well with heathers
and other more upright conifers. It also looks good covering
a low bank, and a number may be planted 3 to 5 feet apart
for this purpose. Weed suppression by mulching or removal
will need to be practised until the plants grow thoroughly
into each other.
Other alternatives for a
similar effect:
Cultivars with similar flat
foliage are all to be found within Juniperus horizontalis,
with the possible exception of the Shore Juniper, Juniperus
conferta, which will even weep over a drop or bank. If
a thicker, more certainly weed-suppressing form is required,
then one could do worse than looking at that old tried
and tested cultivar Juniperus sabina 'Tamariscifolia',
though this will build up into a mound with age.
Further Sources of Information
Blue
Rug Juniper
Covers similar information to that found at this site,
but worth listing when there are so few good web pages
about the blue rug juniper.
Using
Junipers
Using junipers in your garden: advice about avoiding mistakes
and making use of juniper trees in the best way possible.
How to grow: Junipers
How to grow junipers in a garden - their cultivational
requirements in the open ground and containers.
Juniper Links and Resources
Good juniper resources and links are really few and far
between, but we have found some of the best.
Link to this site
Link to JuniperTrees.com and add an extra resource about
junipers for your visitors.
Just
what are Juniper trees, then?
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