Blue Rug Juniper


Juniperus horizontalis `Wiltonii' Juniper, Blue Rug

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.

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.

Juniper, Blue Rug

Juniper, Blue Rug

Beautiful landscape accent, even in winter! Tolerates sub-zero cold and retains its handsome looks.

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.

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