S & J Nursery’s Guide to Growing
Juniper Blue Rug
for Northeast Florida Landscapes
( Juniperus Horizontalis ‘Blue Rug’ )
Juniper Blue Rug Origins:
-North American Native plant
Juniper Blue Rug Preferred Exposure:
– Juniper Blue Rug will prefer full sun locations in the North Florida |
Jacksonville | St. Augustine area landscapes. Although some varieties will tolerate very light shade, Juniper plants will tend to grow “leggy” and sparsely foliated when not receiving a full 6- 8 hours of direct sun each
day.
Juniper Blue Rug Foliage:
– Densely foliated Blue Rug Juniper has a silvery blue foliage color and adds
fine texture to the gardens landscape.
Juniper Blue Rug Soil Preference / Salt tolerance:
– Juniper Blue Rug will thrive in sandy well drained soils.
– Juniper Blue Rug has moderate salt tolerance and can be planted near coastal properties. If your looking for a groundcover for planting ion coastal properties you may want to consider Blue Pacific Juniper or Parsonii Juniper
– Drought tolerant landscape selection.
Juniper Blue Rug Class Size Variance:
-Perhaps the most unique feature of Juniper Blue Rug is its ground hugging habit, it will reach sizes of only 6 inches high | but spread 6-10 feet wide with time.
Juniper Blue Rug Growth Habit:
-Low growing groundcover will spread along the ground or drape over the edge of a container or raised bed.
Juniper Blue Rug Growth Rate:
-Juniper Blue Rug shrubs are slow growing and will take time
to establish itself in the landscape spreading only a few inches each season.
Juniper Blue Rug Water Requirements:
-Juniper Blue Rug will establish itself in the landscape with minimal care and is drought tolerant once established in the landscape.
Best Uses For Juniper Blue Rug in the North Florida | Jacksonville | St. Augustine
area Landscape:
Just as the name implies this plant makes a perfect carpet of foliage for a
low maintenance North Florida groundcover planting
– Perfect for use in hot spots in the lawn and landscape where other plants tend to suffer from drying breezes and full hot sunny locations.
– Use as the front of the border groundcover to create curves in the landscape bed around the foundation of your home or in island beds in the lawn.
– Perfect for raised beds and containers to add a trailing plant to spill over the sides of retaining walls, pots, etc.
– Low maintenance landscape plant.
Care of S & J Nursery’s North Florida | Jacksonville | St. Augustine
Shrubs:
– Shrubs can be planted in the North Florida | Jacksonville | St. Augustine area at any time during the year. In normal and well draining soils dig the hole as deep as the root ball and two to three times as wide. Plant the top of the root ball level or slightly higher than the surrounding soils. When
planting in poorly drained soils make sure to plant your shrubs a minimum of 3 inches ABOVE the surrounding soil level.
– Water every day during the establishment period. For most 3 gallon size shrubs in the North Florida landscape in average soil, that is neither heavy clay that holds water or really sandy that will take 2-3 weeks of daily watering to ensure that your newly planted shrub will begin to put out new roots and grow into its new home happily. After the first few weeks begin tapering back your watering to every other day then every third day and so on until your newly planted items are flourishing without your assistance.
– If planting larger shrubs you may need to extend the initial care a bit longer to protect your investment and get your shrubs off to the best start possible.
– IMPORTANT: If planting shrubs in heavy clay soils that hold allot of water after a rain or irrigating, remember to check the soil for moisture by sticking your fingers into the soil near the root ball of the newly planted shrub down to 2-3 inches. If it remains wet from the previous watering wait for the top 2-3 inches to dry out before watering again.
– IMPORTANT: When planting shrubs into poor sandy soils be sure to amend the planting hole by mixing compost or cow manure etc. with the native soil that will go back in the hole around the new plants root ball when installing your shrub material, this will not only give your new shrubs good soil to grow its new roots into but help it hold water.
– When planting shrubs from containers be sure to loosen the roots as much as possible pulling loose roots away from the root ball before installing your new plants, if the roots are to tight to easily loosen with your hands use a knife to cut a few slits into the root ball being careful to go all the way from the top to the bottom and making the cut at least an inch deep. This will ensure that your plant will immediately begin to form new roots into its new surrounding soil.
– Mulch newly planted shrubs whenever possible.
– Fertilize each spring with a mixture of Milorganite and a slow release poly coated plant food such as Osmocote or Stay Green general purpose plant food, sprinkling the fertilizer around the mulch circle underneath the foliage of the tree.
– Prune as needed to shape each spring and or summer.