Everyone is accustomed to the fact that juniper is an evergreen bush or tree that is planted in an open area or found in the wild. Today, the wonders of selection along with other indoor plants allow you to grow juniper at home. The main thing is to know how to plant and care for dwarf varieties of coniferous shrubs.

Types and varieties of juniper

The Cypress family has a wide variety of dwarf species. Decorative varieties of juniper in the form of trees or tall bushes are great for growing in an apartment.

In this way, you can grow a plant for several years and then transplant it into open ground, for example, on the veranda near the house. A characteristic feature of such varieties is reduced resistance to adverse conditions, if they are improperly maintained, they can die.

Compress

A beautiful shrub variety has a dense crown, narrow, columnar symmetrical shape. Under natural conditions, it reaches 2-3 m in height. At home, it reaches a maximum of 1 m in height, an annual gain of 5–8 cm.

Did you know? In a house, it is best to place the pots with juniper near the south window.

Type features:

• branches are rigid, tightly fitting one to one, growing vertically;
• needle needles light green with a whitish stripe, length up to 0.6 m, dark green on the underside;
• slow growing;
• winter hardy (up to -35 ... -40 ° С);
• drought tolerant;
• well tolerates the conditions of the city;
• photophilous, grows poorly in the shade, partial shade tolerates normally;
• almost all types of soils are suitable (moist, dry, alkaline, poor, acidic, etc.);
• possesses soil-protective properties.

Needs regular preventive treatment with medications in the spring and autumn season.

Solid juniper

The culture is dioecious, female specimens have openwork-loose crown, male specimens are columnar.

Grade Features:

• spiky needles, up to 2.5 cm long, dense, whorled, each containing 3 leaves, yellow-green, in winter acquires a brown color, narrow-linear in shape with a stomatal blue stripe on top and convex on the underside;
• triangular branches, young shoots hanging down;
• plant height in open ground - up to 12 m;
• gray bark, old branches turn red-brown;
• photophilous;
• undemanding soil fertility;
• tolerates pruning well;
• drought tolerant;
• black and blue cones are small and round with a bluish tinge.

Used for planting in the style of bonsai, can be grown in planters. The species is very effective in decorative cultivation.

Plumeza Aurea

The decorative variety reaches 1 m in height and after 10 years is the same in diameter. On the street it reaches up to 2 m high.

Variety Description:

• slow growing;
• photophilous;
• frost resistant;
• undemanding to the soil, prefers moderately dry soil from acidic to alkaline pH;
• needles of golden yellow color, turns brown in winter;
• When cultivating a house, regular pruning is necessary.

Young shoots need to be hidden from the first rays of the spring sun. It tolerates a small partial shade.

Viltoni

Creeping juniper variety with flexible branched branches. The height of the plant is 10–20 cm, the diameter of the crown in nature is 2–2.5 m. The crown spreads on the ground with a dense carpet. When growing at home, you need to regularly form a crown.

Important! Juniper should be planted in the ground, where there is drainage, which includes sod-peat mixture and sand.

Main characteristics:

• unpretentious in leaving;
• undemanding to the soil (prefers moderately moist, light, fresh, loose, slightly acidic or neutral);
• photophilous, can tolerate partial shade;
• small green-blue needles, in the fall and winter it becomes lilac, of two types (elongated-lanceolate / pressed to the shoots);
• tolerates poorly dry air.

It looks gorgeous in flowerpots on the loggia, does not need pruning, a winter-hardy variety.

How to grow juniper at home

Indoor dwarf conifers are not so difficult to grow, if you follow the recommendations for planting and care. An important rule is to maintain the right microclimate.. It is very dangerous for the bush when the room becomes hot and dry.

Pots with seedlings should be placed near windows, away from heating systems, closer to natural light, but not in the sun, otherwise the shrub will turn yellow and dry. In the summer it can be transferred to fresh air. In the house, a personal plot or garden is wonderful, in the apartment - a balcony.

Did you know? The ancient Romans prepared preparations for snake bites from juniper, and its berries were crushed and added to wine and used the drink as a diuretic.

How to plant juniper at home

So that your work does not become in vain, you must follow the following landing rules:

• planting material immediately after acquisition must be planted in containers;
• 2 hours before planting in a pot, the seedling is carefully watered with water with the addition of recharge, for example, potassium humate is used;
• at the bottom of the tank, a drainage layer of expanded clay or a mixture of gravel, sand and broken brick is necessarily placed;
• the flowerpot should be as spacious as possible for root growth;
• when growing in a limited space, the soil for conifers should be prepared in a special way;
• It is important to monitor the soil moisture to prevent drying out, remove excess water from the sump, especially in the heating season.

At home, the juniper feels rather well when the humidity level and temperature are observed within the normal range.

How to choose lighting

A shrub planted in a pot needs proper lighting. The needles are photophilous, but dies from direct sunlight. Also a big mistake when in summer the flowerpot is put in the shade, in the winter - in the sun. In cold winters, a window on the south side should be selected for juniper. In the warm season, it is necessary to create a light partial shade and place it on the windowsill in the northern part of the house or apartment.

Climatic conditions

To ensure a comfortable climate for decorative evergreen needles, it is necessary to observe the temperature regime. The main thing is to prevent air overheating, especially in the summer season. Room temperature must not exceed + 25 ° C. The plant reacts negatively to hypothermia and drafts, despite the fact that it loves fresh air. It is impossible that the temperature drops below + 13 ° C.

Capacity selection

The pot or flowerpot should be extremely free, since the bush needs enough space for the development and growth of the roots. A drainage layer is necessarily poured onto the bottom of the tank.

The most suitable landing containers made of natural material are clay, porcelain, and ceramics. On the flowerpots there may be a harmonious pattern that will look beautiful with the shape of the crown when it will be created during the growth of the bush.

Soil preparation for juniper

The idea that coniferous culture is completely unpretentious to the soil is a fallacy. Only wild forms are adapted to any soil. Home decorative varieties need a special substrate composition for full growth.

Important! It is necessary to stimulate the growth of juniper by top dressing immediately after planting. When he takes root, the addition of funds should be limited to a minimum.

The soil must contain such ingredients:

• sod mixture;
• peat;
• sand;
• universal fertilizer or nitrofoska.

You can buy ready-made soil mix for cypress plants in specialized stores. It consists of river sand, peat and the main trace elements for good growth of needles.

Planting a plant

Planting is carried out in the spring so that the planting material is successfully acclimatized during the growing season and begins to grow roots and the aerial part.

Below is a step-by-step instruction for planting a seedling in a container, which will ensure its quick survival:

1. The flowerpot is washed, disinfected and dried well.
2. Buy or independently prepare a substrate.
3. A drainage layer is placed at the bottom of the pot.
4. They fill the soil with a height of 4-6 cm.
5. The seedling is delicately removed from the previous container so that a lump of earth is preserved on the roots.
6. Put in a new flowerpot.
7. The gaps that formed during the movement of the bush are covered with a substrate to the root neck.
8. Watered with water and after 20 minutes, drain the residue from the pan.
9. Sprinkle the crown. Use a finely divided spray gun.
10. They put a flowerpot on a windowsill with good lighting, where there is no direct sunlight.
11. In the first week after landing, they provide thorough care.

At the end of the landing, the top layer of the earth is a little tamped, mulched with peat or humus.

How to care at home

In order not to experience disappointment from the work spent and get a chic juniper at home, there should be competent care for the room coniferous culture.

Watering and feeding

The plant loves moderate watering, but it is impossible for the soil to dry out. Soil moisture should be constantly monitored. In summer, watering is provided once every 2 days at the first signs of drying on the top layer of the earth. In the cold season, watered twice a month. Excess water on the drain is drained. Shrub is sprayed daily in the summer, in the winter - 1 time in 2 days.

In addition, proper feeding in small doses should be organized. When there is active growth (April - September), once every 14 days in the water that is watered, mix mineral fertilizers. It is allowed to mix humus and other organic matter. Closer to winter, they feed 1 time per month, and in November, feeding is completely excluded.

Pruning

For decorative varieties of the Cypress family, pruning is performed once a year. February is the best time to cut damaged and dried branches.. During the formation of the crown, pruning begins with young shoots in the apical part.

It is better to cut the top to a larger length, compared with other branches. So the plant grows more magnificent and becomes healthy and strong.

Protection against diseases and pests

Even at home, comfortable and isolated from the external environment, infection with diseases, diseases and pests is possible. Yellowing and dying coniferous leaves become a signal of a disease or infection. Then the branches and the whole plant are affected. The affected areas are removed, and the seedling is treated with fungicides. A heavily damaged bush cannot be saved.

Did you know? Milk, which is stored in juniper containers, does not sour even in the heat. This feature was used by artisans of Ancient Russia and made dishes from the bark of a coniferous plant.

In other cases, you can take measures:

1. In case of defeat scale, its larvae and juniper sawfly perform weeding around the trunk circle.
2. Caterpillar shoot moth destroy insecticides by spraying with a solution the whole plant.
3. Roots damaged by rot or fungi, you can try to cut to healthy areas, treat them with fungicides and transplant into a new sterile pot with fresh soil.
4. Upon precipitation spider mite isolate from other plants and perform the processing of "Actofit" or "Neoron." To prevent their occurrence, air humidity should be controlled.

The leaves may turn yellow and fall when the root system is rotten or due to excess moisture, inappropriate soil, and lack of drainage.

In general, growing juniper ornamental crops at home is a simple and troublesome process. The shrub takes root well, responds to proper care and feeding with beautiful growth. Vertically growing varieties can create a beautiful crown shape. However, not all varieties can take root in pots. Only certain dwarf varieties of the Cypress family can acclimatize to room conditions.