The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
A member of the cypress family, this shrub is aconifer.
The female cones are berry-like, with one seed.
It tends to grow out rather than up.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Blue Star junipers feature bluish-tinged star foliage for a dramatic look.
Junipers are aperfect bonsai starter plant.
They can be used asedging plantsor ground covers for larger areas.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
These plants can also be grown in containers.
The bluish color of Blue Star juniper goes well with plants with golden foliage.
Add some compost to the soil and replace the soil up to the base of the plant.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Give the new plant a good watering.
Water new plants weekly during the first growing season.
Leonora Enking / flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Light
Plant this small evergreen bush infull sun.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Give it an open, sunny space with a reasonable distance from other herbaceous plants or large shrubs.
It does not tolerate water-logged soil.
They are relativelydrought-tolerant shrubsonce they mature.
Leonora Enking / flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Use a general 10-10-10 fertilizer.
For the amount to use, follow the product label instructions.
Once established, it won’t need routine fertilization.
Fertilize your plants by applying compost to the soil.
The preferred container material is terra-cotta, so the container does not topple over easily.
Potted plants, however, need to be moved to a sheltered outdoor location.
You canwinterize the containerby wrapping the container in burlap or bubble wrap.
Soggy soil can lead to root rot.
Any disease or bug-pest problems will generally occur on these shrubs only in hot, humid regions.
One such problem isspider mites.
When you first detect spider mites, hose the bush down with a powerful spray.
This may knock the pests off.
Check your bush regularly after that to ensure that the spider mites do not return.
Repeat the hosing-down as needed.
The distance between plantings depends on how you want to use them.
For individual specimens, plant them 6 to 8 feet apart, measuring from the center of the plant.
As a groundcover, plant them densely, about 2 feet apart.
