Juniper Golden Carpet (Juniperus horizontalis Golden Carpet) has a beautiful golden color and horizontal creeping branches. He comes from North America, and its name in translation sounds like "Golden Carpet". Dense twisting shoots with soft needles really resemble a fluffy rug of a warm sunny shade.
Juniper Golden Carpet
Brief information about the variety
- Colour: young growth is golden yellow, old growth is greenish.
- Height: 15-30 cm.
- Crown width: 1.5 m.
- In which regions is it growing: the entire territory of Russia.
- Landing features: in a sunny place or in partial shade.
- Immunity: tall.
- Life span: over 300 years old.
Description of the plant
Golden Carpet belongs to horizontal ground cover species. Its shoots spread on the ground, root well and grow.
The shrub reaches 15-30 cm in height, and 1.5 m in width. The highlight of this plant is its golden color, which pleases with a young spring growth. Juniper flaunts this sunny color all summer, and in autumn it becomes more greenish.
The needles are soft, scaly, small, but dense. Fruits in the form of round dark blue cones are rare. The root system is well-branched and close to the surface.
The shrub grows in width, but rather slowly - 6-10 cm per year. If you want to speed up this process, you need to feed it more often.
Growing regions
This juniper is highly resistant to cold weather. It is recommended to grow it in the winter hardiness zone 4, which corresponds to the middle zone of Russia (Volga region, Central, North-Western and Chernozem regions).
Judging by the descriptions of gardeners, Golden Carpet can withstand a harsher climate if the bushes are covered for the winter. The shrub grows well in the south, but it is better to place seedlings in partial shade.
Landing
For planting, it is better to buy a seedling with a closed root system. Keep the soil in the container moist and not sticking out of the soil.
The bush should not have dry needles, damaged twigs, dark or whitish spots, but there must be an increase in the current year.
Landing place
For Golden Carpet to acquire a beautiful golden color, it must be planted in the sun or in light partial shade. Shading has little effect on the growth of the shrub, but the needles are not so bright. The plant is unpretentious to the soil, but it grows better on moderately moist and well-drained.
Landing technology
The planting pit is prepared in accordance with the size of the earthen coma - it should be twice as spacious. Water is poured inside and waiting for complete absorption, and then a drainage layer (sand or expanded clay) is laid. The soil from the hole is mixed with peat and sand in equal parts.
The plant is placed in a hole and watered abundantly, then fall asleep, while observing that the root collar remains at ground level. The soil is tamped down to create a snug fit to the roots. The trunk circle of the seedling is mulched.
Care
It is very easy to care for a juniper
One of the advantages of Golden Carpet juniper is that it is very easy to care for. In dry summers, the shrub requires more attention - it needs to be watered and sprinkled. If precipitation falls regularly, the plant does not need watering at all.
Top dressing
The bushes are fed once - in the spring. Usually, complex formulations are used for conifers, and if the plant has not endured the winter well or hurt, they are treated with a drug like Epin.
If you want to quickly get an extensive golden "carpet", you can apply fertilizer three times per season, as well as do foliar spraying.
Mulching and loosening
Loosening the soil and mulching only makes sense for young seedlings.
With age, the horizontal juniper grows in thick carpets and does not give the weeds the slightest chance.
For newly planted bushes, the ground is shallowly loosened, mulched with peat, crushed bark, needles or dry leaves.
Pruning
Every spring, sanitary pruning is carried out, damaged and dry shoots are removed. There is no need to form a Golden Carpet - it grows beautifully and symmetrically in a natural way.
With container growing, you can do a decorative haircut - the juniper tolerates it well.
Preparing for winter
Juniper tolerates frost well - adult plants do not need to be covered.
Burlap or spruce branches are placed on young seedlings, and they are covered with a thick layer of peat in the trunk circle. At the end of winter and at the beginning of spring, the bush is covered with nets from sunburn.
Reproduction
It is most convenient to propagate Golden Carpet by layering. The soil next to the parent bush must be dug up with peat and sand, moistened and loosened. A long shoot is chosen on the bush and the area is cleared of needles on it. You can make an incision and sprinkle with a growth stimulant (for example, Kornevin).
The twig is bent to the ground and fixed. For fastening, a bracket or ordinary wire is used. Roots usually appear after 5-12 months. The rooted layering is cut off and transplanted to a new location.
Diseases and pests
Plant health depends on the quality of care
This juniper is resistant to disease, but can sometimes be attacked by fungi.
In unfavorable conditions (waterlogging or excessive dryness), adjacent to infected plants) rust, shute or fusarium develops on the bushes. The best prevention will be the regulation of moisture, as well as spraying with Bordeaux liquid and copper-containing preparations.
Of insects, the sawfly, gnawing shoots and needles, causes harm to the plant. At an early stage of the invasion, caterpillars are harvested by hand, and the bushes are treated with an infusion of aconite, chamomile, tansy or ash.
To get rid of aphids, they are treated with a solution of laundry soap, and in serious cases - with Fitoverm.
Trapping belts or chemicals can be used against the shield. Antichrushch and Aktar are added to the ground, the crown is sprayed with Aktellik or Operkot.
Also, a spider mite can annoy the shrub. Acaricides are used to combat it.
Application in landscape design
The ground cover plant is often grown as a “living carpet” or lawn. It smoothes out unevenness in the soil, suppresses weeds, facilitates maintenance work, decorates the lower tier of mixborders and topiary compositions.
It is also used to strengthen slopes and slopes, create curbs around paths and flower beds. The shrub goes well with flowers and successfully fills in voids in flower beds. The golden shade of the needles can serve as both a background and a bright accent in landscape design.
Golden Carpet can be combined with horizontal junipers of other tones (Green or Blue). It looks harmoniously in rocky and heather gardens, rock gardens, near water bodies.
With the container growing method, the shrub is used for landscaping terraces, roofs, balconies, small yards without planting land.
It looks spectacular with roses and lilies, barberry, rhododendron, calmia, and a variety of conifers. It organically fits into the compositions of Japanese, English, French landscapes, as well as modern and minimalist styles.
Reviews
Juniper horizontal Golden Carpet is a real decoration of the garden.
Gardeners note the unpretentiousness of this variety and the ease of caring for it. In many cases, the shrub grows well without forming, mulching, or watering (weather permitting). Although it has been noticed that with regular sprinkling, the needles become brighter and more beautiful.
Juniper horizontal Golden Carpet. Juniperus horizontalis Golden Carpet at a glance
Juniper horizontal Golden Carpet | Plante.md
Juniper horizontal Golden Carpet / Juniper planting and care / conifers
The culture is resistant to cold weather and calmly tolerates the winters of the middle zone. She hardly gets sick and is rarely affected by pests. Sunburns are also rare, but in early spring it is better to cover the bushes with a dense net.
The appearance of the shrub is evaluated positively: it looks like a spectacular sunspot against the background of other greenery. The golden yellow growth at the tips of the shoots, combined with the greenish center, gives it the resemblance to a thick and fluffy, very cozy home carpet.