Juniper is extremely beautiful and enoughan ancient plant. On our planet, it appeared 50 million years ago. The area of the juniper covers the subtropical, temperate and even circumpolar regions of the Earth. It grows both on the plains and on the peaks of low mountains and ridges.
Today botanists have about 70 species andvarieties of this plant. We will stop our attention only on one of them - it is a juniper Cossack. Description, a list of varieties, as well as advice on planting and care for it you will find in this article.
Meet: juniper!
Juniper is an ancient coniferous plant fromfamily cypress, which arose on our planet about 50 million years ago. There is a huge number of its types and forms. Some of them reach a height of 20-30 meters. Others spread along the ground, rising above its surface by only a couple of dozen centimeters.
Today in artificial gardening more oftenjuniper Cossack is used. Planting of this plant is carried out in parks and gardens, in private and public areas. With its help, successfully decorate lawns, stony slopes and "Vietnamese hills". Due to the rooting of individual branches, the juniper grows very quickly in width, forming dense and beautiful thickets. In cultural gardening the species has been known since the end of the 16th century.
Juniperus Cossack: a general description of the plant
The Latin name of the species is Juníperus sabína.This dioecious creeping plant up to one and a half meters in height. Most often - in the form of a bush, although there are small trees (3-4 meters high) with curved thin trunks. The bark is brown or red, with obvious signs of exfoliation.
Juniperus Cossack is mentioned in the worksAncient Greek scientist Dioscorides. There is also a legend about a certain harlot Sabina (hence the name of the plant), which used the poison sabinol, which is found in juniper berries, as a means of getting rid of unwanted pregnancy. Later, other women resorted to this method. By the way, juniper is one of the most poisonous plants in the world. Poisoning it with berries can lead to severe seizures, paralysis and even death. Not only berries are poisonous, but also shoots of this plant.
Needles of mature juniper scaly, in itsstructure, it resembles shingles. When grinding, it gives off a powerful and rather sharp odor. The fruits of the plant are juicy pine cones of oval shape, black and with a bluish bloom.
Distribution of species and habitat
As a rule, in nature juniper Cossackgrows at absolute heights from 1000 to 3000 meters. The species is widespread in South and Central Europe, Middle and South-East Asia, Siberia, the Caucasus, Primorye and Crimea. Its natural landscapes are limestone slopes, bare mountain slopes and sand dunes.
The plant is photophilous, frost-resistant and notespecially demanding to the soil. Well tolerates long dry periods. Juniper survives even at very low temperatures (down to -40 degrees Celsius). It is resistant to excessive air pollution, so it is often used in the greening of industrial sites and dusty city streets.
Useful properties of juniper
Like many other conifers,juniper has useful (healing, including) properties. First of all, it enriches the air with oxygen and phytoncides. Due to this, the space around the bushes becomes clean from harmful bacteria. This property, by the way, was noticed by our old ancestors. However, they interpreted it in their own way, using juniper as a weapon against evil spirits.
North American Indians were treated with twigs of thisplants wounds and skin ailments. The Ukrainian Cossacks got rid of a hangover with the help of juniper needles. To do this, they simply laid the young man who had abused alcohol into the thickets of juniper. But in Ancient Russia noticed that this plant protects a person from snakes.
The shoots of the Cossack juniper containEssential oil, which helps to protect wool from moths. In addition, it is also used as an effective remedy for warts. Ointment on the basis of juniper is treated with purulent ulcers on the body, it is also rubbed into the scalp with alopecia.
Juníperus sabína and its varieties
The appearance of the Cossack juniper is overtwo dozen varieties. All of them differ from each other only in the form of a shrub and a shade of needles. The most popular varieties of juniper Cossack in modern landscape design:
- Tamaricycology.
- Variegata.
- Erecta.
- Mass
- Blue Dunub.
- Glauca.
Juniperus Cossack Variegata - short,creeping shape, which in height rarely exceeds 0.5 meters. Crohn is very dense and is adjacent to the ground. Needles have an excellent disinfecting effect - near the plant there are practically no insects. Variegata variety needs abundant sunlight. It perfectly looks in different container compositions, also used in the formation of rockeries and rock gardens.
Juniperus Cossack Glauca is a sprawling andfairly large shrub, the height often reaching one and a half meters. It grows very quickly, it has green needles. In general, it is unpretentious and resistant to various pollutants, which, however, loves sunny places.
Juniperus Cossack Tamariscifolia (or simplyTamaris) - a low shrub, not exceeding one meter in height. The crown resembles a dome and reaches 1.5-2 meters in diameter. The needles are predominantly bluish or pale green in color. This variety is ideal for gardening ravines and loose stony slopes. It has a high resistance to air pollution, and therefore often land along lively roads.
Methods of reproduction of juniper
The most common in the gardening juniper Cossack Tamariczifolia reproduces in three ways (as, indeed, all other species and varieties of this plant):
- Cuttings.
- Layers.
- Seeds.
Let's take a closer look at each of them.
Reproduction of Cossack juniper bycuttings propagation is the most effective way. And spring (April-May) is the optimal period for this event. Cuttings from perennial shrubs, as a rule, take root much faster (up to 40 days). The ideal temperature for rooting is + 16 ... 20 degrees. Subsequently, rooted cuttings of juniper are planted in separate pots to grow. Not earlier than in two years they can be planted in the open ground.
Perhaps the easiest way to reproducejuniper - is the use of layers. How does this happen? Sprig bush bend, make a small incision and sprinkled with earth. Then this place is slightly watered. Do this procedure usually in the spring, and in the autumn the mother branch is cut off, and the young bush is transplanted to a new place.
The seed method of reproduction is the most troublesomeand long. In autumn the seeds are placed in small boxes with earth. For the winter, these boxes are taken to the street and stored under snow until spring. In April, the junipers that have overwintered in this way are sown already in the prepared beds.
An important point! Optimal soil acidity for juniper planting is 4.5-7 pH.
Juniperus Cossack: caring for the plant
As already mentioned above, juniper is a unpretentious plant. Here are the basic rules for caring for this bush:
- During periods of prolonged heat and drought, junipers should be watered especially intensively.
- Young bushes are important to feed fertilizers for coniferous plant species.
- When planting a juniper in an open ground, it is recommended to carry out liming of the soil.
- The primer around the bushes should be periodically loosened and mulched (peat or wooden sawdust).
- During heavy snowfalls, it is recommended to shake the branches of the juniper from the snow in order to avoid damage to the plants.
Pruning of juniper bushes
In general, in pruning Cossack juniper practically does not need. The only thing you need to do is cut out dry, as well as damaged branches.
As a rule, pruning juniper is carried outin those cases when the bushes need to be given a certain shape. Do this procedure not earlier than in the second-third year of plant life, in April or September. Work best in gloves to avoid contact with juniper venom. It is possible to form bushes in the style of bonsai, coordinating the growth of branches in one direction or another.
Juniper in the garden is a dangerous neighbor?
Planning your own garden, one shouldbe sure to check all plants for compatibility with each other. So, for example, juniper Cossack should not sit next to the trees of pears, apples, quinces, bushes of currants, gooseberries or roses. After all, all the above plants, he can infect the so-called rust. This disease is caused by a special fungus of the genus Gymnosporangium and manifests itself in the form of large orange spots and outgrowths on leaves and branches.
It is juniper that promotes the spread ofrust. And, it happens quite quickly, because on one sick plant several billions of malicious spores can ripen immediately. To prevent infection of plants in your garden, it is necessary to regularly carry out a number of preventive measures. So, it is recommended to process trees and bushes (late spring) with a solution of urea. You also need to periodically inspect your garden: rust-damaged twigs of juniper must be cut and burned.
It is important to note that juniper in the garden is best combined with heather, onion and other coniferous plants.
