Juniper is an attractive plant for growing on the site, it easily adapts to adverse conditions and saturates the air with a coniferous aroma. If you want to acquire additional specimens for planting, then you can germinate juniper from seeds at home. This breeding method is not the most popular, but with due effort it becomes possible to grow many strong seedlings. The secret of success is stratification, planting in nutritious soil. Experiments can be carried out outdoors and at home.
Brief description of the culture
Common juniper comes in various heights and shapes. The following plant species are known:
- trees with a conical, spherical and columnar crown. They can rise up to 10-12 m;
- ornamental shrubs up to 3 m high;
- creeping species, which are up to 1 m in size.
The bark of the plant is used to make souvenirs, pencils and other products. Juniper is also used in medicine. Medicinal decoctions and infusions are made from berries, which help with diseases of the bronchi, cystitis, pharyngitis, pyelonephritis and other diseases. The oil from the fruits of the plant also brings benefits. It has an analgesic, cleansing and warming effect.
Juniper bush
In cities, gardeners grow indoor types of juniper, but most people prefer to plant the plant in the country.
Trimming
The pruning procedure is resorted to only when the juniper is grown for hedges. If such a goal is not set, then it is not worth pruning the plant. Think carefully before pruning, since juniper grows very slowly and it will take a long time to restore an unintentionally pruned branch.
Gardeners with experience in growing juniper are advised to perform only sanitary and thinning pruning. In the first case, ugly and diseased branches are subject to removal. And in the second case, branches are cut out that thicken the crown, as well as very long and sloppy branches.
Plant care at home
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Juniper is grown at home in a pot, at the bottom of which additional drainage is laid. The vessel is selected taking into account the following conditions:
- its diameter is chosen 2 times the lump of earth on the roots of the bush;
- the height of the container is chosen so that the bottom of the planting pit is 80 mm from the piece of soil on the bottom of the plant.
You need to plant the juniper carefully so as not to damage the trunk. The primer can be bought in specialized stores or made by yourself. This will require garden soil, sand and peat powder. They are taken in a ratio of 1: 1: 1. The soil is mulched with humus.
Juniper in a pot
They begin to take care of the bushes with regular watering of the plant. This operation continues until the bush takes root. A juniper in an apartment does not tolerate excessive moisture well. Stagnation of water leads to the development of various fungal lesions on the roots, falling off the needles.
Caring for a juniper at home requires good ventilation in the room.
Important! Watering the bushes is done with warm water every 2 days. Moreover, it is necessary to irrigate the plantings immediately, as soon as the top layer of the earth dries up. During the winter months, the juniper bush needs to be watered 2 times in 30 days. If the specified deadlines are not met, the plant will grow poorly and die from a lack or excess of moisture.
Top dressing is applied from April to September. Various mineral mixtures are added to the water for irrigation every 14 days. In autumn until November, the frequency of fertilization is reduced to 1 time in 25-30 days, and in winter this process stops completely.
After watering the plant with water mixed with mineral compounds, humus is added to the soil. This is done 6-7 days after each irrigation session.
Juniper pruning
Pruning is done once every 1 months. Common juniper is cultivated in mid-February when it starts to grow strongly. The soil is loosened once every 12 days.
Juniper planting site
Juniper is not afraid of direct sunlight, you can even say that he loves them. It is for this reason that it is specially planted in the open field, where it is then looked after. Worse, when the plant is planted in the shade, because of this, it can develop an unhealthy color and an ugly crown shape. Such conditions can only withstand a variety – ordinary juniper.
The main advantage of absolutely all species is their huge root system. This is what makes it possible to grow well in unstable soils that need strengthening.
Need to know! The juniper is afraid of a long stay in the water, it is for this reason that this plant should not be planted in swampy places.
It is worth considering that juniper does not need to be planted next to mountain ash, hawthorn and apple trees. These fruit crops can harm the coniferous plant, because they contain fungi that cause enormous irreparable damage to the crown.
Plant propagation at home
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How to grow a juniper from seeds at home, it is better to learn from experienced gardeners. There are several ways to get a plant:
- if a florist lives in the northern region of Russia, then he can go into the forest, dig up a young bush, and then plant it in an apartment or in a summer cottage;
- many people prefer to purchase cuttings germinated and tested in special farms, as they adapt better to a new place;
- some people try to breed a crop by purchasing large quantities of juniper seeds from nurseries, but this method does not always lead to success.
The first option is quite simple, since you only need to transfer the plant from one place to another, plant a juniper near the house or indoors, and then provide it with normal care.
Juniper stalk
If you bought a green stalk, then before planting it in a pot, it is recommended to germinate it, after lowering the shoot in a stimulating solution. When a grower has an adult plant, shoots begin to multiply on it in the spring. You can wait until their age is at least 12 months, and then cut them off along with the bark in the spring. The length of such a cutting should exceed 10 cm. They must be planted in a pot.
The future bush is planted in a vessel filled with a mixture of peat and river sand. The cutting is sprayed every day until it releases 3 cm long roots. After that, the shoot is grown for 2 years. Then it is transferred to a permanent place. At the summer cottage, it is advisable to plant a bush on a sunny hillock.
Seed propagation is rarely practiced, since the germination of the plant is quite low. But if the gardener has a small seed fund with proven specimens, then he can try to get an adult plant. For this, several seeds are planted in a box with soil so that 4-5 cm remain between them. The laying depth is 1,5 cm. After that, the planting is watered with warm water. After about 10-12 days, the first shoots appear. Then they need to be immediately treated with a biostimulant called mix. But the number of bushes will be no more than 30% of the planted seed fund.
Juniper Seeds
Pay attention! It is recommended to grow young shoots in this way in the fall, and in winter the boxes, along with the shoots, should be taken outside, where they should be 3-4 months old.
The resulting seedlings must be constantly sprayed with water, but not poured. For feeding, humus or nitrophoska is used. They are brought under the bush once a week.
If it was possible to grow a juniper from seeds, then the strongest plants are chosen, and then they are transferred to a permanent place. For this, pots with soil are suitable, installed on windowsills illuminated by the sun.
Breeding by layering
Juniper propagation by layering is a popular vegetative method suitable for creeping varieties. Held from March-April (depending on the climate) to July. Before harvesting the layering, the soil around the plant is loosened, dug up, peat, humus with sand are added and irrigated abundantly.
You can propagate a young shoot growing at or slightly above the ground. The twig is cleaned of needles. Then they cut with a sharp knife at an oblique angle, insert a match, fix it with a hairpin to the soil, cover it with soil. A few months later, when roots sprout from the cut and the juniper grows an aerial part, the branch is cut off and transferred to a permanent place. It is important to transplant a bush with a clod of earth.
Reproduction by layering is similar to cuttings, the difference is that the cuttings are not cut off immediately. However, the traditional method is more popular with gardeners.
Plant transplantation
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This procedure is recommended in the spring, for example, in mid-March.
Important! Only a young bush is selected for transplantation. Its height should be no more than 100 cm.
A circle is cut around the plant with a garden spatula, and the depth of penetration of the tool should not exceed ½ the height of the pot. The juniper bush is supported at the roots, it is carefully removed from the container along with a lump of earth. Then the plant is placed in another pot, where a hole of the required depth has already been made in the ground. Its width should be 2 times the diameter of the earthen coma.
Bush transplant
The roots of the juniper bush are covered with earth. From above, the soil is treated with a small amount of superphosphate and peat. Gently tamp. Water the plant with warm water, set in the sun.
Important! Instead of these ingredients, you can use sawdust from the bark of a coniferous tree.
Indoor species are transplanted from a pot to another vessel every 12 months.
Growing a juniper using a cutting
First you need a container with earth, where sand and peat are added in equal parts. After that, a stalk is cut from a juniper, which is more than a year old and should be about 12 cm long. A mixture is made in a container with water to activate growth, after which a branch is placed in this container.
Common juniper propagates better by cuttings than other species. When the roots are developing well, then such a plant can be moved to another container. But you can only transplant to the site no earlier than 2 years later.
Diseases and pests
The home juniper is attacked by many insects. Most often, the following pests appear on plants:
- Aphid that sucks juice. It is destroyed with soapy water or confidor insecticide.
- The scabbard eats young buds and damages the bark. Insects are driven off with special glue or preparations of aktara, enzhio.
- They get rid of moths by treating juniper (2 times with a break of 11 days) with calypso and confidor.
- The mealybug dies after spraying the bushes (3 times with an interval of 10 days between sessions) with the toxic chemical enzhio.
- They get rid of gall midges by systematic processing of juniper with preparations of Aktara, Confidor.
- The flatling mite is destroyed by treating the bushes (3 times with a break of 10 days) with Aktelik, Caesar, Nurel-D means.
- Marble beetle dies after spraying juniper with chemicals bombardier, anteater, thunder.
Marble Khrushch
If the plant is sick, it begins to dry out. The most common plant ailments and how to deal with them:
- Rust affects the entire bush. For treatment, the diseased needles and shoots are first removed, and then the plant is treated with micronutrient fertilizers or Bordeaux liquid.
- Schütte’s disease is eliminated with special preparations containing copper and sulfur.
- Biotorellic and non-cytoral cancers are caused by fungi. There are no special fungicides to eliminate these diseases, but to prevent their development, it is recommended to treat plant bushes with Bordeaux liquid in spring and summer (2 times for the entire season).
Pay attention! For the treatment of juniper, copper sulfate is often used and the trunks are painted with oil paint mixed with drying oil.
Any florist can grow a coniferous bush at home if he adheres to the advice of specialists in breeding and caring for such crops. Juniper grows well in summer cottages and in city apartments.
Juniper planting time
Juniper is planted, as a rule, in spring and autumn. It is necessary that the chosen place is not completely dark. The amount of hydrogen in the earth should be about 4,5-7 units, but the variety should also be taken into account.
It is important! The juniper is very popular with landscape designers because it is easy to care for. This plant is able to survive in heavy loam and sand.
Only the juniper doesn’t like swampy terrain. In winter, it does not require comfortable conditions, they are needed only for young cuttings.
Before planting a juniper, you need to study the soil well, where this bush is transplanted.
