Chinese juniper | The Morton Arboretum

Chinese juniper is a durable, adaptable evergreen tree or shrub that can bring year-round color, structure and screening to a dry, alkaline, or windy site. Although the species is an erect, conical tree up to 60 feet high and 20 feet wide, a wide variety of cultivated varieties are available for garden and landscape use that range from trees to shrubs down to ground covers. The foliage of scale-like needles is attractive but prickly. In late summer and fall, many junipers have blue-green berry-like fruits, actually modified cones, that attract birds. Junipers are widely used in bonsai, and are rugged and useful landscape plants. Because they are quite salt-tolerant, they can be used near roads, driveways and sidewalks.

Family (English) Cypress
Family (botanic) Cupressaceae
Planting site Residential and parks
Tree or plant type Tree, Ground cover, Shrub
Foliage Evergreen (foliage year-round)
Native locale Non-native
Size range Low-growing shrub (under 3 feet), Small shrub (3-5 feet), Medium shrub (5-8 feet), Large shrub (more than 8 feet), Compact tree (10-15 feet), Small tree (15-25 feet), Medium tree (25-40 feet), Large tree (more than 40 feet)
Mature height 50-60 feet
Mature width 15-20 feet
Light exposure Full sun (6 hrs direct light daily)
Hardiness zones Zone 4, Zone 5 (Northern Illinois), Zone 6 (City of Chicago), Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone 9
Soil preference Dry soil, Moist, well-drained soil
Tolerances Alkaline soil, Dry sites
Season of interest early winter, midwinter, late winter, early spring, mid spring, late spring, early summer, midsummer, late summer, early fall, mid fall, late fall
Flower color and fragrance Inconspicuous, Other
Shape or form Creeping, Narrow, Oval, Pyramidal, Round, Upright
Growth rate Slow
Transplants well Yes
Wildlife Game birds, Game mammals, Small mammals, Songbirds
Has cultivars Yes

Size and Form:

Chinese juniper has many cultivars and a wide variety of sizes and shapes. It can range from a tall tree growing 40 feet high or more to a small ground cover, 18 inches to 2 feet high.

Native geographic location and habitat:

Native to Asia.

Bark color and texture:

Old bark is ridged and furrowed.

Leaf or needle arrangement, size, shape, and texture:

This juniper has two types of needles-adult or juvenile (scale and awl). Adult needles are in opposite pairs and along branches. They are very short, blunt, and convex. Juvenile needles are awl-shaped, arranged in whorls of three or opposite pairs, pointed and convex. Needle color is green, blue-green, or gray-green.

Flower arrangement, shape, and size:

Flowers are Inconspicuous and dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants).

Fruit, cone, nut, and seed descriptions:

It has a green berry-like fruit (actually cones) that turn blue-gray by fall.

**Ames Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Ames’):**

Broad pyramidal shrub, 8 to 10 feet high and 6 to 8 feet wide. Steel-blue young needles turn green when mature. Female cultivar produces silver-blue berries.

Blue Point Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Blue Point’):

A cultivar of pyramidal shape that is 12 feet high and 8 feet wide and densely branched.

**Fairview Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Fairview’)**:

A narrow, pyramidal small tree, 10 to 15 feet high and 4 to 6 feet wide. Bright green foliage and silver-blue, berry-like globular cones. Older stems have thin exfoliating bark.

Gold Lace Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Gold Lace’):

A compact form with golden foliage that is 3 to 4 feet high and 5 to 6 feet wide.

**Hetz columnar Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Hetzii Columnaris’):**

An upright, pyramidal form that is 10 to 15 feet high and 5 feet wide.

**Iowa Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Iowa’):**

An upright pyramidal small tree, 8 to 10 feet high and 10 feet wide. Its dense, spire-like form opens with age and its blue-green foliage turns green with age. It has large blue fruit.

**Kallay’s Compact Pfitzer Juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Pfitzeriana Kallay’):**

A low, flat-topped, spreading shrub that is 2 to 3 feet high and 4 to 6 feet wide. It is resistant to most pests (including deer) and to cedar rust and juniper twig-blight diseases. Bagworm can be a problem. Female plants produce berry-shaped cones, but nurseries often do not sell these shrubs with the gender known.

Keteleer Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Keteleeri’):

A broadly pyramidal small tree, 15 to 20 feet high and wide. Disease resistant. Light to medium green foliage and large fruit.

**Mountbatten Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Mountbatten’):**

Narrow pyramidal tree, 15 to 20 feet high and 10 to 15 feet wide. Dense grayish-green foliage, large fruit, and excellent winter hardiness.

**Perfecta Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Perfecta’):**

An upright, narrowly-pyramidal form that is 15 to 18 feet high and 6 to 8 feet wide.

**Pfitzer Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Pfitzeriana’):**

A wide-spreading shrub, 5 to 7 feet high and 15 to 20 feet wide. An old-fashioned juniper variety that is rarely sold but exists in many landscapes with angled branches and sage green foliage.

Sea Green Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Sea Green’):

A compact spreading shrub, 4 to 6 feet high and 6 to 8 feet wide. Branches are more upright than ‘Pfitzeriana’ and foliage remains dark green in winter. Susceptible to phomopsis blight.