Juniper 

Brief Description

The Juniper is an evergreen tree, shrub or groundcover with an astounding 60-70 species. From those species are hundreds of varieties. To put it plainly, there are so many types of them that there’s likely more to be discovered. They come in all shapes and sizes to suit nearly any landscape need. In Greater Prescott, one of the many Junipers is the ‘Alligator Juniper,’ which is recognizable by the bark on the tree trunk resembling Alligator skin. 

Origin

They originate all over the world 

Description 

Common Name – Juniper

Botanical Name – Juniperus 

Plant Type – Evergreen

Mature Size – 6 inches to 130 feet tall, 1 to 25 feet wide 

Sun Exposure – Full Sun

Bloom Time – Summer 

Flower Color – Yellow-Green

Hardiness Zone – 2 to 10

Planting

Due to there being so many species and varieties of Junipers, the space required varies as well. They comes in groundcover, shrub or tree form, so you have a lot of options. Make sure to not over-water it when they’re young. 

Care

For the most part, Juniper is easy to care for. Trees can be pruned yearly and shrubs & groundcover trimmed a couple times per year. They are drought tolerant, therefore, as the plant matures, move the emitters away from the plant base and consider capping of emitters if it has too many. Because they are so easy to care for, it’s a great plant to have in your landscape. 

Flowers 

Juniper has an inconspicuous yellow/green flower that appears in Summer. Female ones has ‘Cones’ that look like berries and when matured, turn blue. 

Varieties 

Infinity. You’ll have no problem finding a tree or shrub for your particular use-case. 

Invasive

The Juniper is not invasive. 

For other shrubs that are perfectly suited for Greater Prescott, read about the Euonymus here.

Lastly, we highly recommend Watter’s Garden Center, Mortimer Nursery, or Prescott Valley Nursery as great places to both purchase shrubs & trees but to also ask questions because these are the experts.