Conifers - a classic landscape design. And a special place in the garden and in the country is always occupied by juniper. A beautiful long-lived plant pleases with an incredibly rich palette of colors and unpretentiousness. One of the most beautiful types of these shrubs is the Chinese juniper.

Botanical Description

The botanical name of the Chinese juniper is Juniperus chinensis Expansa Variegata, but you can often find a simplified mention of Expansa Variegata. Once reading the description of the plant, it is easy to recognize it in any suburban area or in the wild. The peculiarity of the shrub is the rich color of the needles, which in some places burned out in the sun to a light wheaten hue. The border of the transition of flowers is always clearly delineated, so light transitions decorate the bush very much.

Did you know? Juniper cookware retains excellent quality products. In Ancient Russia, milk was stored in such tubs, and it did not sour even on the hottest day.

Distinctive features of the Chinese coniferous plant are as follows:

• excellent cleaning properties (juniper disinfects the air, it is pleasant to breathe near it, it destroys pathogens and harmful bacteria);
• bushes are well formed, have a cone-shaped or columnar shape;
• rather slow growth, only 10 cm per year;
• adult plants in the wild reach a height of up to 20 meters, and the diameter of the trunk often reaches 1.5 meters;
• at the summer cottage, the maximum height of the plant is 3 meters;
• prickly needles of Chinese juniper, needle length - 12 mm;
• small cones, up to 9 mm in length;
• the bark has a characteristic red-gray hue, and the older the plant, the more intensively the upper layer of the trunk exfoliates.

Landing

The soil for planting Chinese juniper should be neutral or slightly acidic. This shrub is unpretentious, characterized by the best growth on fertile soils with admixtures of sand and peat. With the root system closed, when the juniper grows in a container, pot or plastic container, before planting the plant is placed in a bucket of water so that a lot of moisture gets into the soil and roots through the drainage holes of the pot.

Important! The root system of the juniper is fragile, so the transplant from the pot should be done very carefully so as not to damage the roots. It is advisable to keep the entire earthen com.

After that, you can proceed to such actions:

• dig a hole at least 60 cm deep and 30-60 cm wide;
• put a layer of drainage on the bottom, for example, gravel or coarse sand;
• pour ordinary sand over a drainage layer with a thickness of 5 cm;
• place a seedling in a pit, deepen, cover it with a mixture of peat, sand and soil;
• Sprinkle the seedling with soil so that the root neck is visible, it must receive oxygen, this will allow the bush to grow faster;
• at the end of planting, water the plant abundantly.

Landing can be done in spring or autumn. If planting occurred in the cold season, then before winter, all young seedlings must be protected from frost and wind, covering with agrofibre or several layers of natural coarse fabric. Watering is actively performed only in the first month after planting. When the plant began, the frequency of watering is reduced and adjusted to 1 time per week.

Optimal conditions for growing

The best conditions for growing Chinese juniper are a moderate amount of sunlight, low humidity, good ventilation of the site, and also fertilizer on a schedule twice a year. The older the plant, the less care it requires. However, amateur gardeners should know that it is undesirable to plant juniper bushes near fruit trees, raspberries, currants, strawberries. The reason for this is the natural fungal flora of the root system of the plant. Apple trees, plums and pears near Expansa Variegata will not take root, but cornel, barberry, sea buckthorn, as well as all bush flowering plants, are quite.

Did you know? Juniper bark has powerful medicinal properties. A decoction of the bark cures fungal diseases, vitamin deficiency, strengthens teeth and hair, and is also an excellent prophylactic for stomach weakness.

Chinese juniper loves the sun, but from the excess of light can "burn." Sunburns on needles look different, but more often they look like redhead, spots. An excess of lighting leads to a rapid darkening of greenery, weakness. It is imperative to make the soil close to that on which the juniper population in the wild grows. Such soils must contain turf, peat, sand.

It is allowed to spray the roots of seedlings with growth stimulants, for example, nitroammophos diluted with water. The same substance is mixed into the soil for planting, and up to 200 g of the drug is added to the planting pit, thoroughly mixing with the substrate.

Juniper Care

Variegat’s expansion does not require special care, but, like any wild culture, having become a full-fledged inhabitant of a summer house or garden, it needs a complex of simple care procedures. In addition to watering, which is performed for adult plants once a week, the shrub needs periodic cutting, thinning of the crown, loosening and mulching of the soil.

Important! Juniper crown thinning is done only with tight gloves and a respirator. Dry wood dust is very fine and dangerous for the lungs.

Young bushes are necessarily covered for the winter, and wood sawdust, preferably pine, is placed under the base. Small shavings are a prophylactic against pests and rot.

Chinese juniper is trimmed twice a year - in autumn and spring. First of all, dry branches, weak, underdeveloped shoots are removed, the remnants of needles are removed from under the bush, and 5 cm of peat mixed with sawdust is placed on top of the soil. This process is called mulching and retains moisture and nutrients in the soil. Thinning of the inner part of the crown is a rather time-consuming process, it is performed manually. After such a cleaning, the shrub grows better, receives more sunlight.

Use in landscape design

In landscape design, Chinese juniper is used especially often. In addition, there are several subspecies of it: Curivao Gold, Plumeza Aurea, Monarch, Blue Alps, Stricta. All of them have different colors of needles, have a wonderful aroma and are not whimsical.

The main application in design:

• the formation of hedges;
• in the composition of the alpine slides;
• spot landing in the garden;
• registration of garden paths, entrance to the house;
• landing at the gate to create a "living barrier";
• decorating lawns;
• the design of the slopes, the creation of a continuous "carpet" from the bush.

An ideal combination of juniper can be obtained by planting wormwood, tulips, heather, lichens and all types of moss, begonias, hydrangeas, barberry, dogwood, anemone next to coniferous bushes.

A beautiful, noble plant will delight the owner of a summer house or private house with a garden all year round. The rich color palette and the presence of different subspecies of Chinese juniper make it an ideal decoration for any territory.