Juniper is an extremely beautiful and fairly ancient plant. It appeared on our planet 50 million years ago. The range of juniper covers subtropical, temperate and even subpolar regions of the Earth. It grows both on the plains and on the tops of low mountains and ridges.
Today, botanists have about 70 species and varieties of this plant. We will focus our attention on only one of them - this is the Cossack juniper. Description, list of varieties, as well as tips for planting and caring for it, you will find in this article.
Meet Juniper
Juniper is an ancient coniferous plant from the cypress family that originated on our planet about 50 million years ago. There is a huge number of its types and forms. Some of them reach a height of 20-30 meters. Others creep along the ground, rising above its surface by only a couple of tens of centimeters.
Today, in artificial landscaping, Cossack juniper is most often used. Planting of this plant is carried out in parks and gardens, in private and public areas. With its help, lawns, rocky slopes and "Vietnamese slides" are successfully decorated. Thanks to the rooting of individual branches, the juniper grows very quickly in width, forming dense and beautiful thickets. In cultural gardening, the species has been known since the end of the 16th century.
Cossack juniper: a general description of the plant
The Latin name of the species is Juníperus sabína. This is a dioecious creeping plant up to one and a half meters in height. Most often - in the form of a shrub, although there are small trees (3-4 meters high) with curved thin trunks. The bark is brown or red, with obvious signs of flaking.
Cossack juniper is mentioned in the works of the ancient Greek scientist Dioscorides. There is also a legend about a certain harlot Sabina (hence the name of the plant), who used the poison sabinol, found in juniper berries, as a means of getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy. Later, other women resorted to this method. By the way, juniper is one of the most poisonous plants in the world. Poisoning with its berries can lead to severe convulsions, paralysis, and even death. Not only the berries are poisonous, but also the shoots of this plant.
The needles of a mature juniper are scaly, in their structure it resembles a tile. When rubbed, it releases a powerful and rather sharpsmell. The fruits of the plant are juicy oval-shaped cones, black in color and with a bluish bloom.
Species distribution and habitat
As a rule, in nature the Cossack juniper grows at absolute heights from 1000 to 3000 meters. The species is widespread in Southern and Central Europe, Central and Southeast Asia, Siberia, the Caucasus, Primorye and Crimea. Its natural landscapes are limestone slopes, bare mountain slopes and sand dunes.
The plant is light-loving, frost-resistant and not particularly demanding on soils. It tolerates long dry periods well. Juniper survives even at very low temperatures (down to -40 degrees Celsius). It is resistant to excessive air pollution, so it is often used in landscaping industrial sites and dusty city streets.
Useful properties of juniper
Like many other coniferous plants, juniper has useful (including healing) properties. First of all, it enriches the air with oxygen and phytoncides. Thanks to this, the space around the bushes becomes clean from harmful bacteria. This property, by the way, was noticed by our ancient ancestors. However, they interpreted it in their own way, using juniper as a weapon against evil spirits.
North American Indians treated wounds and skin ailments with sprigs of this plant. Ukrainian Cossacks used juniper needles to get rid of a hangover. To do this, they simply laid the young man who had abused alcohol in a juniper thicket. BUThere in Ancient Russia they noticed that this plant protects a person from snakes.
Cossack juniper shoots contain an essential oil that helps protect wool products from moths. In addition, it is also used as an effective remedy for warts. Juniper-based ointment is used to treat purulent ulcers on the body, it is also rubbed into the scalp for baldness.
Juníperus sabína and its varieties
The type of Cossack juniper has more than two dozen varieties. All of them differ from each other only in the shape of the shrub and the shade of the needles. The most popular varieties of Cossack juniper in modern landscape design:
- Tamariscifolia.
- Variegata.
- Erecta.
- Mass.
- Blue Danub.
- Glauka.
Cossack juniper Variegata is a short, creeping form that rarely exceeds 0.5 meters in height. The crown is very dense and close to the ground. The needles have an excellent disinfecting effect - there are practically no insects near the plant. Variety Variegata needs abundant sunlight. It looks perfect in various container compositions, and is also used in the formation of rockeries and rock gardens.
Cossack juniper Glauka is a sprawling and fairly large shrub, often reaching a height of one and a half meters. It grows very quickly, has prickly green needles. In general, this is an unpretentious and resistant variety to various pollutants, which, however, loves sunny places.
Cossack juniper Tamariscifolia (or simply Tamaris) is a low shrub not exceeding one meter in height. The crown resembles a dome and reaches 1.5-2 meters in diameter. The needles are predominantly bluish or pale green in color. This variety is ideal for landscaping ravines and loose rocky slopes. It is highly resistant to air pollution, and therefore is often planted along busy roads.
Juniper propagation methods
The most common in gardening juniper Cossack Tamariscifolia reproduces in three ways (as, indeed, all other species and varieties of this plant):
- Shanks.
- Layers.
- Seeds.
Let's take a closer look at each one.
Propagation of Cossack juniper by cuttings is the most effective way. And spring (April-May) is the best period for this event. Cuttings from perennial bushes, as a rule, take root much faster (up to 40 days). The ideal temperature for rooting is + 16 … 20 degrees. Subsequently, rooted juniper cuttings are planted in separate pots for growing. Not earlier than two years later, they can be planted in open ground.
Perhaps the easiest way to propagate junipers is to use cuttings. How does this happen? A branch of a bush is bent down, a small incision is made and sprinkled with earth. Then this place is lightly watered. This procedure is usually done in the spring, and already in the fall.the mother branch is cut off, and the young bush is transplanted to a new place.
The seed method of reproduction is the most troublesome and long. In autumn, the seeds are placed in small boxes with earth. For the winter, these boxes are taken out into the street and stored under the snow until spring. In April, juniper seeds that have overwintered in this way are sown in prepared beds.
Important point! The optimal acidity of the soil for planting juniper is 4.5-7 pH.
Cossack juniper: plant care
As mentioned above, juniper is an unpretentious plant. Here are the basic rules for caring for this bush:
- During periods of prolonged heat and drought, juniper should be watered especially intensively.
- It is important to feed young bushes with fertilizers for coniferous plants.
- When planting juniper in open ground, it is recommended that the soil be limed.
- The soil around the bushes must be periodically loosened and mulched (with peat or sawdust).
- During heavy snowfalls, it is recommended to shake off the snow from the juniper branches in order to avoid damage to the plants.
Pruning juniper bushes
In general, the Cossack juniper practically does not need pruning. The only thing to do is to cut dry as well as damaged branches.
As a rule, juniper pruning is carried out in cases where the bushes need to be given a certain shape. This procedure is performed no earlier than on the second or thirdyear of the plant's life, in April or September. It is best to work with gloves to avoid contact with juniper poison. You can form bonsai bushes by coordinating the growth of branches in one direction or another.
Juniper in the garden - a dangerous neighbor?
When planning your own garden, be sure to check all plants for compatibility with each other. So, for example, Cossack juniper should not be planted next to pear, apple, quince, currant, gooseberry or rose bushes. After all, he can infect all of the above plants with the so-called rust. This disease is caused by a specific fungus of the genus Gymnosporangium and appears as large orange spots and growths on leaves and branches.
It is juniper that contributes to the spread of rust. Moreover, this happens quite quickly, because on one diseased plant several billion harmful spores can ripen at once. To prevent infection of plants in your garden, you need to regularly carry out a number of preventive measures. So, it is recommended to treat trees and bushes (in late spring) with a solution of urea. You also need to periodically inspect your garden: rusted juniper twigs must be cut and burned.
It is important to note that juniper in the garden is best combined with heather, bulbous and other coniferous plants.
