Growing and Using Juniper (Juniperus spp.) Groundcovers and Small Shrubs

Quick Guide to Growing Juniper Groundcovers and Small Shrubs

• USDA Hardiness Zones: Most species are adapted to zones 3 to 9 (cultivar dependent)
• Mature Size: 6 inches to 6 feet tall; 6 to 20 feet wide
• Soil Needs: Well-drained soil
• Light Requirements: Full sun
• Watering: Water regularly until rooted; minimal once established
• Special Notes: Dioecious (male and female plants separate); many cultivars for groundcover, screening, or ornamental use

The young, prickly juvenile needles in the center of this picture contrast with the scale-like adult needles above them on a Parsons juniper (Juniperus sabina var. davurica ‘Parsonsii’).
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Characteristics of Juniper Groundcover and Small Shrubs

Junipers (Juniperus spp.) are evergreen conifers in the cypress family (Cupressaceae), comprising between 50 and 75 species that are widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. Thirteen juniper species are native to North America.

Juniper Foliage, Reproduction, and Landscape Appeal in the Southeast

Juniper species and cultivars come in a range of colors and sizes.

• Foliage: Two kinds of needles — juvenile foliage is sharp and prickly, and mature foliage is scale-like (similar to fish scales), compressed closely to one another. Some species maintain juvenile and mature needles, while others only have juvenile foliage.
• Reproduction: Dioecious; male and female reproductive organs on separate trees. Males produce catkin-like pollen cones, and females produce round, fleshy cones comprised of 3 to 8 fleshy scales fused together to resemble small berries.
• Popularity: Traditional landscape junipers have declined in popularity. So, nursery producers have focused their efforts on growing species and cultivars with attractive traits, including colorful needles, billowy textures, and architectural forms. The attractive female cones are an accompanying benefit to wildlife.

Mature Height and Spread of Juniper Groundcovers and Small Shrubs

Depending on the species and cultivar, juniper groundcovers and small shrubs will grow no taller than 6 inches or as tall as 6 feet. They can spread anywhere from 6 to 20 feet.

Male Sargent’s juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii) produces an abundance of light brown cones.
©Tatjana Koroteeva (tatjana_koroteeva05), inaturalist.org

The light blue female fruit of Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis) offers ornamental interest and food for wildlife.
Photo credit: Robert Vidéki, Doronicum Kft., Bugwood.org

Ornamental Features of Juniper Plants for Landscape Use

Junipers come in a variety of shapes, sizes, textures, and colors.

Depending on the species and cultivar, foliage ranges from shades and blends of green, yellow, blue, and gray. Female cone colors also provide aesthetic interest, from silver to blue to black.

Best Landscape Uses for Juniper Groundcovers and Small Shrubs in the Southeast

Junipers are the workhorses of the landscape, providing functionality and beauty. They are often used for:

• Controlling slope erosion.
• Providing screening or hiding views.
• Blanketing the ground to suppress weeds.

Growing Conditions and Care for Junipers in the Southeast

• Adapted to heat, drought, and poor soils of the Southeast.
• Require full sun and well-drained soil.
• Provide adequate water after planting until established.
• Minimal supplemental irrigation or fertilization once established.

Proper Spacing and Air Circulation for Healthy Junipers

When choosing junipers, know their expected mature height and spread, and space them accordingly.

Adequate growing space allows for optimal air movement. Adequate airflow reduces prolonged foliage wetness, which can contribute to fungal infections.

Proper spacing also reduces or eliminates the need to prune healthy branches or remove entire plants from the landscape.

Common Juniper Pests and Diseases in the Southeastern Landscape

While junipers are durable and long-lived, they are susceptible to:

Juniper insect pests:

• Bagworms
• Twig borers
• Juniper scale
• Juniper webworms

Juniper fungal diseases:

• Phomopsis
• Cercospora
• Kabatina
• Cedar-apple, quince, and hawthorn rusts

For more information, see HGIC 2056, Juniper Diseases and Insect Pests.

Blue rug juniper (Juniperus horizontalis ‘Wiltonii’) forms a dense mat that hugs the ground and suppresses invading weeds.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Groundcover Juniper Species and Cultivars for Southeastern Landscapes

Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis)

Native to North America, it grows low to the ground, making its cultivars exceptional ground covers.

• Bar Harbor: Male, fast-growing, blue-gray foliage that turns purplish in winter, slightly greener than Blue Rug.
• Monber (Icee Blue^®): Silvery blue, less than 6 inches tall and 6 to 8 feet wide; reported mutation of ‘Wiltonii.’
• Andorra (‘Plumosa’): Male, gray-green needles purple in winter; grows up to 2 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
• Compact Andorra (‘Plumosa Compacta’): smaller form, 1½ feet tall and spreads to 5 feet.
• ‘Wiltonii’: Female, prostrate carpet-like habit, 4 to 6 inches tall and 6 to 8 feet wide; rich blue needles turn slightly mauve in winter with small silver-blue cones. Commonly called and/or sold as blue rug juniper.
• ‘Wisconsin’: Dense mat, 6 to 10 inches tall and 4 to 6 feet wide; blue-green foliage turns slightly plum in winter.

Japanese Garden Juniper (Juniperus procumbens)

Native to southern Japan, deer-resistant, and generally slow-growing.

• ‘Nana’: Female, bluish-green needles, spreading habit, 2 to 2½ feet tall and 10–12 feet wide; well-suited for foundation plantings, rock gardens, and sloped areas.

Shore Juniper (Juniperus rigida var. conferta)

Native to coastal areas of Japan and Sakhalin Island in Russia, spiny-pointed, ⅝ inch long blue-green needles, 1 to 1½ feet tall, spreads 6 to 8 feet; tolerates heat, drought, and salt spray. Drapes well over walls and planters in full sun.

Drainage Note: Does not survive in poorly drained locations.

Dwarf Japanese garden juniper (Juniperus procumbens ‘Nana’) displays a sculpted, textured carpet of tightly spaced needles. Its rigid, horizontal branches reluctantly cascade in aboveground planters.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

All Gold shore juniper (Juniperus rigida var. conferta) maintains its bright golden yellow needles in full sun.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

• All Gold: Golden needles; reaches 6 inches tall and 8 feet wide.
• Blue Lagoon: Forms a tight mat and usually grows no more than 6 inches tall.
• Blue Pacific: Most popular US cultivar, compact habit, 1 to 1½ feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide; prickly blue-green needles are more densely borne than the species and do not discolor in cold weather. They produce waxy blue-green cones that ripen to dark blue to black.
• Emerald Sea: Similar to Blue Pacific but looser and taller habit; blackish, berry-like seed cones acquire a silvery bloom at maturity.
• ‘sPg-3-016’ (Golden Pacific™): Grows up to 15 inches tall and 8 feet wide with gold needles.

Daub’s Frosted Pfitzer (Juniperus × pfitzeriana ‘Daub’s Frosted’)

Hybrid of Savin and Chinese junipers; compact, low spreading habit; 1 to 2 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide. New growth emerges yellow and matures to bluish-green.

The trailing, arching branches of Blue Pacific shore juniper can cascade over walls.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

When grown as a standard (the cultivar is grafted onto a related tall understock), Daub’s Frosted juniper (Juniperus × pfitzeriana ‘Daub’s Frosted’) can be used as a specimen or accent to draw attention to its springtime gold-tipped needles that later change to bluish-green.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Shrub Juniper Species and Cultivars for the Southeastern Landscapes

Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis)

Native to China, Japan, Korea, and Myanmar, it has given rise to scores of hybrids and cultivars that offer a variety of growth habits and textures.

While the species can grow 50 to 60 feet tall, many cultivars that do not reach such heights have been developed for landscape use.

Extremely adaptable to drought, heat, cold, soil types, and salt. Chinese junipers tolerate most conditions except poor drainage and dense shade.

Because of its easy-to-grow nature, cultivars have been used in masses, groundcovers, bank covers, specimens, screens, and foundation plantings.

• Angelica Blue: Bright blue-green foliage, 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
• Nick’s Compact: Blue-green to silver-green foliage, 3 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
• Old Gold: Light green to yellowish needles, 3 to 4 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide.
• Gold Plume (‘Plumosa Aurea’): Upright, vase-shaped, 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide; yellow-green needles that become more yellow during the season, turning yellow-bronze in winter.
• Saybrook Gold: Low-growing, spreading 3 to 6 feet wide; bright yellow foliage fades to bronze-yellow in winter
• Sea Green: Compact, arching branches, green needles, 4 to 6 feet tall and spreads 6 to 8 feet.
• SMNJCHM PP#31,704 (Montana Moss^®): Blue-green, layered growth habit, 2 to 3 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide after 3 years. Discovered as a branch mutation of Hetz juniper in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Two-year-old planting of Angelica Blue Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Angelica Blue’) on a mulched slope.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Gold plume Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Plumosa Aurea’) has an upright vase-shaped form and bright yellow needles.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Sargent Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii) creates a tidy, broad, dense mat of low-growing branches.
Credit: Science Photo Library.

Sargent Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii)

Native to northern Japan and northeastern China, blue-green leaves, 2 feet tall and 6–8 feet wide; prostrate, ground-hugging branches may produce upright growing shoots.

• Blue Sargent (‘Glauca’): Blue-green foliage, bluer than the variety, maintains color year-round; females produce blue cones; 1 to 2 feet tall and 8 to 10 feet wide.
• Viridis: Green needles, blue cones, 2 feet tall with a 10-foot spread.

Plant Parsons juniper (Juniperus sabina var. davurica ‘Parsonsii’) en masse or on no-mow slopes and embankments.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Parsons Juniper (Juniperus sabina var. davurica ‘Parsonsii’)

Most widely known as Parsonii (the “s” is often left out of the name) or Parson’s juniper, named after Parsons Nurseries in Flushing, Long Island, which probably imported this female cultivar from Japan.

Native to Asia; one of the most successful groundcover junipers in the Southeast; 2 to 3 feet tall and up to 10 feet wide. Soft-textured, gray-green, mature scale-like needles with occasional shoots of juvenile, prickly, needle-like foliage.

Berry-like cones may be present. Salt-, heat-, drought-, and pest-tolerant. Grows well in full sun and hot, dry locations. Variegated cultivars offer shades of yellow and cream.

Blue Star singleseed juniper (Juniperus squamata) has soft, sharply pointed, silvery-blue needles.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Singleseed Juniper (Juniperus squamata)

Native to the mountains of Afghanistan, China, and Taiwan.

Its namesake derives from its cones that bear only one seed.

In the wild, it has variable growth forms, from ground cover to a small tree.

• Blue Carpet: Silver-blue foliage, 1 foot tall and 5 feet wide.
• Blue Star: Silvery blue needles, 2–3 feet tall and wide. Tends to be short-lived in the Southeast.

Pfitzer Junipers (Juniperus × pfitzeriana)

Hybrids between Balkan savin juniper (J. sabina var. balkanensis) and Chinese juniper.

Pfitzer juniper foliage is generally scale-like and fragrant, with most branches growing at about a 45 ° angle.

They prefer full sun, resist a wide range of pests, and tolerate a wide range of site conditions.

Low & Compact Pfitzer Junipers (≤ 3 feet tall)

• Golden Joy: Branch sport or mutation of Pfitzer juniper that maintains its bright yellow foliage throughout the year. Expect a mature height of 3 feet and a spread of 6 feet.
• Greguard (Grey Guardian™): Female, gray-blue needles, 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide; dense, spreading habit; branch sport or mutation of ‘Grey Owl.’
• ‘Monsan’ (Sea of Gold®): Bright yellow-gold new growth that matures to yellow-green; 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide; discovered as a mutation of Juniperus × pfitzeriana ‘Aurea Improved’ (Gold Coast^®) in Dayton, Oregon, in 1995.

Golden Joy Pfitzer brightens the landscape with its cascading branches of gold needles.
Credit: Science Photo Library

‘Monsan’ (Sea of Gold®) Juniperus x pfitzeriana ‘Monsan’ PP#17,622 pfitzer juniper.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Blue Pfitzer juniper (Juniperus × pfitzeriana ‘Pfitzeriana Glauca’) develops tiers of branches with attractive blue needles.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension

Medium Shrubs Pfitzer Junipers (4 to 6 feet tall)

• ‘Monlep’ (Mint Julep^®): Bright green foliage, 6 feet tall and 8 feet wide; grows in a showy, arching form.
• ‘Grey Owl’: Silvery gray-green needles; 4 to 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide; discovered as a seedling in Holland in 1938 and introduced in 1949; considered a hybrid between Pfitzer juniper (J. chinensis ‘Pfitzeriana’) and silver red-cedar (J. virginiana ‘Glauca’).
• Golden Pfitzer (‘Pfitzeriana Aurea’): Yellow-green foliage; 5 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
• Blue Pfitzer (‘Pfitzeriana Glauca’): Blue-green needles; layered branches; 5 feet tall and 10 feet wide.

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Originally published 01/26