Juniper is also called heather. Before growing it in your garden, you need to evaluate how much it combines with other plants and what effect it has on them. To do this, we should consider in more detail the individual characteristics of juniper and its effect on neighbors.

How to place juniper with neighbors

Veres is often used in landscape design, like all conifers. It has a different shape and size of the crown. Pyramidal or columnar trees with a narrow crown are often used as an accent in single plantings. Group plantings create a hedge. For landscaping slopes, rock gardens, rockeries often use creeping dwarf forms. The plant lends itself well to cutting and emits a large amount of volatile production.

In compositions with other shrubs, several factors must be considered:

1. Landing place. Some varieties prefer sunny areas, so shade-loving plants in the neighborhood will not be comfortable.
2. Juniper shape. If it is tall, it can obscure neighboring plants, so such a neighborhood is not suitable for photophilous specimens. Creeping forms will not obscure, but can drown out neighbors, growing horizontally.
3. Plants growing together should prefer one type of soil, so you should study the soil preferences of the selected variety of heather and, picking up neighbors, place them on this basis.
4. It is necessary to take care of the combination of color and shape. The bright green color of the needles can have different shades depending on the variety. Gray-blue tint is combined with yellow and pink tones, yellow-gold with bright green.

What juniper can be planted in the garden

Juniper is a decoration of the garden at all times of the year. In addition to decorativeness, it has healing properties. Veres disinfects the air in the garden, enriching it with a wonderful aroma. Cones, roots and branches are used to treat kidneys and bladder, dermatitis and eczema, pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchitis, rheumatism and polyarthritis.

Did you know? In cooking, ground cones of heather are used as a spice for meat dishes.

When designing the flowerbed, preference should be given to low-growing dwarf varieties. When choosing plants, you should pay attention to varieties that differ in shape and color. Creeping species must be combined with highly accented accents. As a decor for flower beds, you can use stones, bark, cones.The main advantage of the flowerbed on which the juniper grows is the evergreen color, ease of care and saving time on design, as the plant is perennial. 71 species are registered in the Juniper family. Each of them has many varieties that vary in shape, crown height and color of needles.

The main types of juniper:

1. Ordinary - depending on the variety, it has a height of 1-3 m, an egg-shaped and dense prickly needles 1–1.5 cm long. The bark is gray in color with many shades. Distributed in Russia, Japan, Canada.

The main varieties:

• Hibernica - columnar, h = 3 m, crown with blueness;
• Meyer - skittle, wide up to 1.5 m in diameter, h = 4 m, silver-green, the color of pine needles in winter with a blue tint;
• Suecica - narrow-columnar, h = 10 m, the color of the needles is green;
• Horstmann - weeping, h = 1.5 m, needles of green color;
• Sucica nana - columnar form, h = 2 m with blue needles;
• Hornibrookii - creeping, h = 0.5 m, green needles with stripes lighter;
• Spotty spreader - creeping form, h = 0.2 m, white-green color;
• Sentinel - columnar, h = 4 m, diameter 0.5 m, the color of the needles is bright green;
• Gold con - narrow-conical crown, 0.5 m wide, h = 2.5 m with golden needles.

2. Cossack - a bush with spreading forms. It has a crust of red-brown color. Needles pointed at a young age, pointed, 5 mm long, in adult plants, scaly. Easy to grow and root. It tolerates drought, frost, haircut. It has a specific smell and poisonous fruits - cones.

The main varieties:

• Tamariscifolia - creeping up to 2 m wide, h = 0.3 m, needles gray-green with an ashy shade;
• Variegata - creeping, h = 0.4 m, 1 m wide, gray-green with cream-yellow tips;
• Cupressifolia - wide creeping form, h = 0.5 m, needles with blue;
• Femina - widely bushy, h = 1 m, dark green;
• Erecta - pyramidal, h = 2 m, dark green.

3. Scaly - shrub with hard and sharp needles. It has a dense crown and a dark brown bark. Less frost resistant. Distributed in China, the Himalayas, Taiwan.

The main varieties:

• Blue star - flaky shape, wide, dense, h = 0.5 m, 0.7 m wide, silver-steel color;
• Golden flame - open crown, h = 3 m, needles motley yellow;
• Loderi - weakly crowned crown, h = 1 m, green-blue color.

4. Horizontal - Slow-growing creeping shrub. Needles spiky spiky 8 mm long. It grows well on moist soils without drought. Wood does not rot. Distributed in America and Canada.

The main varieties:

• Admirabilis - dense whisker-forming form up to 2.5 m long, h = 0.25 m, with bluish-green needles;
• Bar harbor - dense creeping with thin branches, needles dark green with a gray tint, reddish in winter;
• Blue chip - compact, h = 0.3 m, diameter 1.2 m, crown blue, purple in winter;
• Douglasii - a wattled creeping shape, h = 0.3 m, 2 m wide, needles silver-green, purple in winter;
• Winter blue - raised creeping form, h = 0.3 m, needles silver-green with a blue tint;
• Limeglow - the shape of the vase, h = 0.4 m, the crown is lemon yellow;
• Hughes - creeping, h = 0.5 m, needles silver-blue;
• Adpressa - dense whisker form, h = 0.15 m, white-green color.

5. Chinese - a plant with a crown shape of various heights. Needles, depending on the variety, are scaly or needle-shaped. Slow-growing, hardy, but poorly tolerates drought. It grows in China, Asia.

The main varieties:

• Stricta - the shape is narrow, pin-shaped, h = 2.5 m, 1.5 m wide, crown with a blue tint, gray-yellow in winter;
• Blue alps - compact form, h = 3 m, needles with a silver tint;
• Ketelerii - dense pin-shaped, h = 10 m, green needles;
• Gold coast - the form is flat, wide, h = 0.5 m, width 1.5 m, needles golden-green;
• Pfitzeriana aurea - wide, leafy, h = 1 m, needles with a yellow tint;
• Spartan - a columnar form, h = 5 m, a width of 1.5 m, the crown is dark green dense.

6. Virgin - a columnar tree. The needles are small, 0.2 cm long. Often planted like a hedge. He does not like transplantation, although it is shade-tolerant, it can withstand drought and frost. It grows even on clay soils. Distributed in Canada, America, Russia.

The main varieties:

• Elegantissima - the shape is pin-shaped, h = 2.5 m, the needles are golden yellow;
• Glauca - columnar form, h = 8 m, 2 m wide, needles silver-blue, brown in winter;
• Pendula - wide, leafy, h = 1.5 m, gray-green needles;
• Aureospicata - sprawling form, up to 1.5 m wide, h = 0.3 m, needles multicolor with golden mottled strokes or bordered on a bluish-green base.

7. Rocky - has the form of both a bush and a tree. Needle-shaped leaves 1.2 cm long. Poorly growing in the shade. Distributed in the USA.

The main varieties:

• Blue arrow - columnar, h = 2 m, 0.6 m wide, green needles with a blue tint;
• Globe - the shape is round, h = 2 m, needles with a silver tint;
• Table top - sprawling, h = 2 m, crown silver-blue;
• Skyrocket - the shape is narrow, h = 3 m, 0.6 m wide, needles with a blue tint.

Compatibility with some plants

To choose neighbors for juniper, it is necessary to consider how practical and convenient it will be to water, fertilize, plant annuals and how these plants will affect each other and combine according to diseases and pests.

Important! The number of phytoncides from juniper is greater than from thuja, therefore the smell is more saturated.

Pear and apple tree

If you plant juniper next to an apple or pear in the garden, then rust will destroy the fruit trees. Rust is a fungal disease that appears on the leaves of a tree in the form of yellow spots. The disease itself does not cause serious harm to trees, but only weakens over a long period, which leads to their freezing. Rust in its development goes through several stages. Moreover, on each of them the fungus is on a certain plant, and its spores are carried by the wind.

They can change their habitat several times depending on the stage of development and the search for the necessary perennial. If at least one of the stages does not find the desired plant nearby, then the disease itself will not develop. Veres is an intermediate host of the fungus. If he is not next to the apple and pear, then there will be no disease. In addition, conifers during growth emit tar contaminants into the soil. Obviously, the proximity to the apple and pear is unproductive.

Barberry

Spectacular beautiful shrub will give the flowerbed a unique look. Of significant value in the design of the garden are dwarf barberries. They can have a different color of foliage: from pale yellow to burgundy, with a uniform color or variegated. Because of their unpretentiousness, they are popular with gardeners and grow well near juniper.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea is a bush with beautiful flowers of various colors and shapes. It grows well near juniper and goes well in compositions. Shrub blooms the whole summer, decorating the green of heather. Tree hydrangea is planted both around columnar junipers, and in the background behind low-growing dwarfs.

Important! Juniper life expectancy can reach 600 years.

Roses

Roses can be grown together with juniper, but you need to carefully approach the choice of varieties. Varieties of roses should be large and powerful shrubs, and juniper, on the contrary, is slow-growing. Plant roots should be divided at least to a depth of 30 cm with a border tape.

When planting, one should take into account the place for the bushes to grow, so that they do not interfere with each other. Roses can become infected from juniper with fungal diseases, therefore all plants are necessary for spraying to prevent spraying in early spring and autumn with a fungicide solution.

Did you know? One hectare of juniper per day is able to clean the air of bacteria in a large city.

Smaragdom

You can plant thuja Smaragd with juniper. These unpretentious plants can be combined together, although they are very similar in appearance. It is worth knowing their features when choosing a place for landing. Thuja is planted in cities, because it tolerates smoky air more easily, and juniper prefers garden air. But thuja, unlike heather, prefers fertile soils. For the compositions of these plants, it is necessary to select varieties that differ in their characteristics. For example, some varieties of arborvitae may have a spherical shape, while juniper is creeping.

Western thuja Smaragd can be with needles of yellow and green hue. It grows up to 5 m high and up to 2 m in diameter. The tree is unpretentious, can grow well in the shade, on soils of any type, it is frost-resistant. When landing, you should leave enough space, given the proliferation.

Other juniper neighbors

Along with heather, you can plant lilac, spirea, boxwood, Erica. The background for the flower beds can be phlox, thyme, a creeper survivor. The composition will be complemented by perennial decorative herbs, cereals, ferns.

What you can not plant juniper

Since juniper is home to fungal diseases, its proximity to currants, roses, fruit trees is not desirable. But this does not mean that planting on the flowerbed of low varietal species is impossible at all.

Did you know? Juniper wood in ancient times was used for making dishes. It had bactericidal properties, so milk did not sour in it.

Since mushrooms hibernate on juniper branches, it is necessary to know this and carry out preventive treatment of all plants with fungicides. The first treatment is carried out in early spring, the second - after flowering, the subsequent if necessary with an interval of 2 weeks. You can also use oak foliage as winter mulch.

If you decide to plant juniper in your garden, then you need to take into account the characteristics of this plant and its combination with other perennials. Do not despair that there is little space on the site and it is planted with fruit trees. If you follow the plant and treat them twice a year with fungicide or Bordeaux liquid, then any impossible neighborhood becomes completely acceptable.