The Skyrocket Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Skyrocket) is a spectacular plant with blue needles and a slender columnar crown. Originally from the mountainous territories of Mexico and North America. Translated, the name sounds like "Heavenly Rocket" - and the tree really resembles a space starship directed upward.
Rocky Juniper Skyrocket: secrets of successful cultivation
Brief information about the variety
- Colour: needles are gray-blue or blue-green.
- Tree height: 6-8 m.
- Crown width: 100 cm.
- In which regions is it growing: middle strip of Russia.
- Landing features: in a sunny place or in partial shade.
- Immunity: high, but may rust.
- Life span: up to 300 years and more.
Description of the plant
The height of the plant often reaches 7-8 m, and the diameter of the crown is 100 cm. The shape is columnar. The branches are directed upwards, the shoots are quite densely located.
Scaly needles have a beautiful bluish-blue color, cones are dark blue, with a waxy coating.
Growth rate in height - 0.2 m per year. The growth in width is much less - about 5 cm per season. The trunk of the tree is strong but flexible, the bark is brown and fissured. The root system is located close to the surface.
Growing regions
Rocky juniper Skyrocket is highly resistant to cold - it can withstand temperatures down to -29-30 ° С.
Recommended for growing in hardiness zone 5 and warmer places. The entire middle zone of Russia (Chernozem, Central, Volga, North-West regions) meets these conditions.
The plant adequately tolerates the heat of the southern regions, but it is better to plant it in light partial shade to avoid sunburn.
Landing
For a successful planting and good survival, it is better to purchase a plant with a closed root system. The soil in the container should be moist and the crown of the seedling should have an increase in the current year.
A healthy bush is distinguished by elastic branches with firmly seated needles, the absence of dark or whitish spots, dry shoots, and any damage to the trunk.
Landing place
The Skyrocket juniper loves sun or light partial shade. With full shade, the crown becomes looser, and the color is less saturated.
Due to the peculiarities of this species (high growth, flexible trunk, superficial root system), it is better to choose places protected from wind and drafts so that the tree does not tilt or deform under their influence.
Landing technology
Rock juniper is not picky about fertility - it grows well on loose, dry or moderately moist soils.
On loams and other dense soils, it is necessary to add sand or broken bricks, lay a drainage layer.
Before planting, the seedling in the container is watered abundantly. A hole is dug twice as much as an earthen lump, and then it is filled with water and allowed to absorb moisture (the depth of the hole is about 70 cm).
The plant is planted so that the root collar remains at the soil level. They cover the earth in parts, tamping tightly to ensure adhesion to the roots. At the end of the planting, the trunk circle is mulched.
If several junipers of this type are planted in a permanent place, the distance between them should be 2 m.
Care
We give the plants an original look
Caring for Skyrocket is not difficult, but it has some features.
Regular watering is carried out only during dry periods, feeding - once a season. However, the tree trunk circle should always be mulched, and the crown needs trimming to maintain its beautiful decorative shape.
Watering
With regular precipitation, rocky juniper does not need watering at all.
In dry times, it should be moistened several times a week, using 10 liters of water per 1 m of growth. In the evenings, you need to sprinkle the needles so that they remain bright and fresh.
Top dressing
The plant is fed once a season - in early spring. Usually they use complex fertilizers for conifers or nitroammofosku.
The granules are scattered over the area of the trunk circle or dissolved in water during watering.
Mulching and loosening
The soil in the near-stem circle is loosened after watering, while getting rid of weeds. The loosening depth should not exceed 6-7 cm.
Mulching allows you to significantly facilitate maintenance. Sawdust, peat chips, wood chips, dry needles or leaves can be used as mulch.
Pruning
Skyrocket needs a regular haircut, as an overgrown and disheveled tree no longer looks so impressive.
Pruning is carried out in early spring, before the start of sap flow. For sanitary purposes, dry and damaged shoots are removed, for decorative ones, they thin out and form a crown, cutting off no more than a third of the green mass.
Preparing for winter
With the onset of winter, the crown of the juniper is tied tightly so that the snow does not deform it.
Young plants are covered with spruce branches, burlap, special covers. The near-trunk circle is insulated with peat by 15 cm. Adult trees do not need to be covered, but in February it is advisable to shade them with a dense mesh from the sun (to avoid burns).
Reproduction
When a juniper is propagated by seeds, the characteristics of the variety are far from always preserved, therefore, gardeners prefer the vegetative method.
Cuttings are harvested in spring, before bud break. On the middle or upper branches, shoots 12-15 cm long are chosen and broken off or cut off "with a heel."
Before planting in a nutrient substrate (a mixture of garden soil, peat, sand and fertilizers for conifers), they are placed in a solution of a root formation stimulator for a day.
The planted cuttings are placed in a greenhouse or covered with a plastic bottle. The soil in the container is regularly moistened and the greenhouse is ventilated. Rooting occurs in 2-4 months.
Diseases and pests
Attentive attitude will save the culture from various infections
Rust is considered the most dangerous disease of the culture. In case of severe damage, the tree cannot be saved - it has to be cut down and burned.
For prevention, it is necessary to plant Skyrocket away from fruit crops on which the fungus can develop, spray it with Bordeaux liquid and copper-containing preparations.
At the first signs of infection, the plant must be treated with Arcerid, and the damaged branches must be cut and destroyed.
Of insects, aphids, scale insects, moths, spider mites are harmful. If the number of pests is insignificant, you can try to wash the needles with a solution of laundry soap and rubbing alcohol (15 ml per 1 liter).
In serious cases, it is worth using special drugs: Fitoverm, Karbofos, Decis, Actellik and the like.
Use in landscape design
Due to its beautiful color and correct conical shape, Skyrocket juniper is very popular in landscape design.
- This slender tree is often used to create verticality in various compositions and mixborders.
- It is planted as a tapeworm, creating a bright accent, or used for growing hedges.
- This view can be seen in parks, squares, alleys and other public places.
- The narrow-conical shape of the plant and the noble shade of the needles look elegant and solemn.
- The tree is in perfect harmony with flowers, decorative grasses, heather. It is equally well suited for rocky gardens, rock gardens, compositions of the English and Japanese styles.
Reviews
According to the description of gardeners, caring for the Skyrocket juniper is simple, but to maintain decorativeness, the crown must be formed in time.
Densely spaced branches allow not only to align the contours, but also to create real topiary compositions. A properly trimmed tree can lay claim to the most spectacular role in home landscaping.
Juniper rock skyrocket
Rocky Juniper Skyrocket / Juniper planting and care / conifers
Skyrocket juniper collapsed after a snowy winter
Judging by the reviews, this variety is successfully propagated by cuttings. Usually, more than half of the planted cuttings take root, so you can get several seedlings at once.
This is a budget solution for those who want to create a hedge or a group of conifers, since the price of the variety is quite high (about 4 thousand rubles for a seedling 100 cm in size).
This species begins to grow rapidly at 3-4 years of age. Prior to this, the growth in height and width is extremely small and often subtle.