Plant, Tree & Shrub Library

Description:

A top notch and popular groundcover evergreen for color accent use in the landscape, featuring silvery-blue foliage all season long, ground hugging and wide spreading; extremely adaptable and hardy; superb color accent groundcover

Ornamental Features

Hughes Juniper is a dwarf conifer which is primarily valued in the garden for its broadly spreading habit of growth. It has attractive silvery blue evergreen foliage. The scale-like sprays of foliage are highly ornamental and turn bluish-green in the fall, which persists throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Hughes Juniper is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a ground-hugging habit of growth. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Hughes Juniper is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover

Planting & Growing

Hughes Juniper will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selection of a native North American species.