Garden Planner & Almanac The Cottage Garden Companion
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Juniper

Juniperus communis

Trim it lightly and often: bare wood inside the bush stays bare, so there is no taking it back down later.

Light Full sun; it has no tolerance for shade.
Water Drought-tolerant once established.
Height 2 m
Spread 4 ft 11 in
Spacing 150 cm

Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing
4 ft 11 in
In-row spacing
4 ft 11 in
Between rows
6 ft 2 in
Square-foot density
Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type
Shrub · Perennial
Botanical family
Mixed / other
Sunlight
Full sun; it has no tolerance for shade.
Watering
Drought-tolerant once established.
Feeding
Rarely needs feeding once it is settled.
Frost tolerant
Yes
Flowering
May
Pruning
A light trim only — never cut into bare wood.

Through the year

  • Apr–May Spring Growth
  • May–Sep Flowering
  • Sep–Dec Growing
  • Jan–Apr Growing

Pests & problems

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant

  • Hoverfly Syrphidae
    Hunts Scale insects

    Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.

    Plant nearby CalendulaChamomileFennelFrench marigoldPhaceliaSweet alyssum
  • Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
    Hunts Scale insects

    The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

    Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow

The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com