S & J Nursery’s Guide to Growing
Juniper Parsonii /
Parsons Juniper
for Northeast Florida
( Juniperus Duvarica Parsonii)
Juniper Parsonii Origins:
– Parsons Juniper is native to Asia but is an excellent Juniper selection for the North Florida | Jacksonville | St. Augustine are landscape.
Juniper Parsonii Preferred Exposure:
– Juniper Parsonii will prefer full sun locations in the North Florida |
Jacksonville | St. Augustine area landscapes. Although like some other Juniper varieties Parsonii will tolerate light shade, Juniper plants will tend to grow “leggy” and sparsely foliated over time when not receiving a full 6- 8 hours of direct sun each day.
Juniper Parsonii Foliage:
-Blue green foliage has an almost feathery appearance. Juniper Parsonii
groundcover adds texture to the landscape.
Juniper Parsonii Soil Preference / Salt tolerance:
-Juniper Parsonii will thrive in sandy well drained soils.
– Juniper Parsonii has a high salt tolerance and is an excellent choice to be
planted as a groundcover on coastal properties.
– Drought tolerant landscape selection.
Juniper Parsonii Class Size Variance:
-Juniper Parsonii can reach sizes of 2-3 feet high | 3-10 feet wide when allowed to spread.
Juniper Parsonii Growth Habit:
-Low growing groundcover that when planted as a single specimen or used in Bonsai tends to form a dome or mushroom like shape.
Juniper Parsonii Juniper Growth Rate:
-Juniper Parsonii shrubs are fast growing and will quickly establish itself in the landscape spreading a 2-3 feet by its second season after being planted.
– Be sure when Planting Juniper Parsonii in the landscape beds to back it up a bit off of the edge of where you would like to see it be eventually, dont plant these right at the edge of a sidewalk or island bed and then try to trim them once they start to spread, give them some room to spread gently
over into the areas that you would like covered, remember they have the ability to spread wide so at least a foot off the edge of a bed is needed and two feet is ideal.
Juniper Parsonii Water Requirements:
-Juniper Parsonii will require water when first planted as all shrubs in the
North Florida landscape but will quickly establish itself in the landscape with minimal care and is drought tolerant once established in the landscape.
Best Uses For Juniper Parsonii in the North Florida | Jacksonville | St. Augustine area Landscape:
– 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 or as a groundcover to create curves in the
landscape bed around the foundation of your home or in island beds in the lawn.
– Perfect for island beds and medians in commercial plantings as these are just durable plants.
– 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.