Description:

A large evergreen shrub or small tree with bluish-green to blue-gray scale-like foliage, and attractive whitish-blue berries on female trees; slow growing and very long-lived; thrives in dry, desert landscapes; great for slope stabilization

Ornamental Features

California Juniper is primarily valued in the landscape for its ornamental upright and spreading habit of growth. It has attractive grayish green foliage with hints of blue. The scale-like sprays of foliage are highly ornamental and remain grayish green throughout the winter. It produces blue berries with white overtones from late spring to early fall. The peeling gray bark is extremely showy and adds significant winter interest.

Landscape Attributes

California Juniper is a multi-stemmed evergreen tree with an upright spreading habit of growth. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and can be pruned at anytime. 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.

California Juniper is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Windbreaks and Shelterbelts
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing

California Juniper will grow to be about 25 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live to a ripe old age of 100 years or more; think of this as a heritage tree for future generations! This is a dioecious species, meaning that individual plants are either male or female. Only the females will produce fruit, and a male variety of the same species is required nearby as a pollinator.

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. 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 xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. This plant does not require much in the way of fertilizing once established. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is native to parts of North America.