Quick Guide to Growing Juniper Large Shrubs and Trees
- USDA Hardiness Zones: Most species are adapted to zones 3 to 9 (cultivar dependent)
- Mature Size: Large shrubs can grow to about 15 feet tall, and trees up to 60 feet tall; 6 to 20 feet wide
- Soil Needs: Well-drained soil
- Light Requirements: Full sun
- Watering: Water regularly until established; minimal once established
- Special Notes: Dioecious (separate male and female plants); many cultivars for screening or ornamental use
For information on juniper groundcovers and small shrubs, see HGIC 1107, Quick Guide to Growing Juniper Groundcovers and Small Shrubs.
Junipers
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 small pollen cones, and females produce round, fleshy cones comprised of 3 to 8 fleshy scales fused together to resemble small berries.
- Popularity: 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.
An eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) becomes a majestic landscape specimen when it matures.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
The mature, scale-like adult needles on the left contrast with the young, prickly juvenile needles on the right on a Blue Point Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Blue Point’).
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
Mature Height & Spread of Large Shrubs and Trees
Depending on the species and cultivar, large juniper shrubs can grow to around 15 feet tall, and trees can grow as tall as 60 feet. They can spread anywhere from 6 to 20 feet.
Male eastern red-cedars (Juniperus virginiana) produce an abundance of yellow-brown cones.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
The frosty blue female cones of eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) offer ornamental interest and food for wildlife.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025, Clemson Extension
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 Large Shrubs and Trees
Junipers are the workhorses of the landscape that provide functionality and beauty. They are often used to solve landscape problems, such as:
- controlling slope erosion;
- providing screening or hiding views;
- providing wildlife habitat;
- serving as a visual accent or specimen in a landscape.
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.
- Minimal supplemental irrigation or fertilization once established.
Proper Spacing
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 the following pests:
Insect pests:
- Bagworms
- Twig borers
- Juniper scale
- Juniper webworms
Fungal diseases:
- Phomopsis tip blight
- Cercospora tip blight
- Kabatina tip blight
- Cedar-apple, quince, and hawthorn rusts
For more information, see HGIC 2056, Juniper Diseases and Insect Pests.
Large Shrub Juniper Species & Cultivars
Large Shrub Junipers (8–15 feet tall)
- Hetz (Juniperus × pfitzeriana ‘Hetzii’): Bluish- to gray-green needles, blue cones, 8 to 12 feet tall and wide. Considered to be a hybrid between Savin juniper (J. sabina) and Chinese juniper (J. chinensis).
- Wilhelm Pfitzer (Juniperus × pfitzeriana ‘Wilhelm Pfitzer’): Male with gray-green needles. Branches emerge at 45-degree angles, tips of the branches nod slightly. Grows 6 to 10 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide.
Hetz juniper (Juniperus × pfitzeriana ‘Hetzii’) creates a bold statement in the landscape, but it requires lots of space to accommodate its mature size.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
The gray-green needles of Wilhelm Pfitzer (Juniperus × pfitzeriana ‘Wilhelm Pfitzer’) add interest to this foundation planting.
Copyright © 2025 by Robert F. Polomski, Clemson Extension.
Large Tree Juniper Species & Cultivars
Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis)
Native to East Asia, especially China, Inner Mongolia, and Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, Chinese junipers are adapted to heat, cold, drought, and poor soils. Cultivars range from low, spreading groundcovers and dense shrubs to upright trees with dramatic, twisting branches and trunks. Needles range in color from deep green to silvery blue or golden yellow. Small, berry-like cones add ornamental interest and provide food for birds and other wildlife.
Eastern Red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
Southern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola) can be used as a screen or border to hide views or denote property lines.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
Not a true cedar (hence, the hyphenated common name). It is one of the toughest needled evergreens found over a wide range in the eastern half of the United States. This densely columnar to broad pyramidal tree can grow 20 to 60 feet tall with a crown spread of 10 to 20 feet Hardy, drought-tolerant, and long-lived, eastern red cedar often acts as a pioneer species, colonizing disturbed or abandoned land. Beyond its practical uses, it plays a significant ecological role by providing shelter, food, and nesting sites, while also symbolizing endurance and adaptability in the landscapes it inhabits.
Southern Red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola)
Native to coastal North Carolina south to Florida, and west along the Gulf Coast to Louisiana, 25 to 50 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide in the wild, oval to pyramidal form when young, maturing to open, flat-topped habit. Green needles dip slightly at the ends. The fleshy cones on female trees are smaller than those of the eastern redcedar, maturing to bluish to blue-purple with a whitish, waxy bloom. Highly tolerant to drought and salt spray.
Columnar Juniper Species & Cultivars
Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis)
- Green Columnar Hetz Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Hetzii Columnaris’): Closely related to ‘Hetzii,’ with green prickly and scaley needles and silvery blue cones. It develops a dense, tightly pyramidal form and expected to grow 20 to 25 feet tall in 15 to 20 years with a 6- to 8-foot spread.
- Spartan Chinese Juniper: Dark green needles, narrow form, 15 to 20 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
- Spearmint Chinese Juniper: Green needles, 15 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide.
- Wintergreen Chinese Juniper: Blue-green foliage, upright form, 15 to 20 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide.
- Taylor Eastern Red-cedar: Dark blue-green, narrow columnar form, 20 to 25 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Discovered in a field near the town of Taylor, Nebraska. Introduced by the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum in 1987. Thought to be male and does not produce cones.
- Trautman Chinese Juniper: Bluish-green, coarse-textured, 15 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
Without pruning, Juniperus chinensis ‘Spartan’ has a natural, narrow form that can be used as an accent or screen.
Credit: Drew Avery is licensed under CC BY 2.0
A sheared eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is commonly used in screen plantings or as Christmas trees.
Photo by John Ruter, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org
A sheared eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is commonly used in screen plantings or as Christmas trees.
Photo by John Ruter, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org
Conical Juniper Species & Cultivars
- Green Point Red-cedar: Green needles, narrow conical habit, 25 to 30 feet tall by 4 feet wide. It was discovered in Paoli, Indiana.
- Hillspire Red-cedar: Male, dense green needles, 15 to 30 feet tall and 5 to 7 feet wide.
- Idyllwild Red-cedar: Dark green foliage, 15 feet tall and 5 to 7 feet wide.
- Manhattan Blue Eastern Red-cedar: Blue-green needles, cone-shaped form, 10 to 12 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide.
Idyllwild eastern red-cedar draws attention as a specimen with its upward-growing branches.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
Pyramidal Juniper Species & Cultivars
Compact Blue Eastern Red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana ‘Glauca Compacta’)
Female produces silver frosted purple-blue cones. Blue needles in spring gradually turn to blue-green later in the season. A six-year-old plant was 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Selection Note: When blue foliage is desired in the landscape, this cultivar is the best choice compared to Rocky Mountain juniper cultivars (J. scopulorum), which are intolerant of high humidity and more disease-prone than eastern red-cedars.
Iowa Chinese Juniper: Gray-green foliage, slow grower, 15 feet high and 10 feet wide.
Kaizuka Chinese Juniper: Female, green, soft-textured needles, irregular upright habit, twisted, unique sculptured appearance, 20 feet tall or higher.
Keteleeri Chinese Juniper: Female, light green foliage, densely branched, height of 15 to 20 feet.
Mountbatten Chinese Juniper: Multi-stemmed, 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Pruning is necessary to maintain form.
Robusta Green Chinese Juniper: Upright, irregular habit, gray-green clusters of needles, 8 feet tall and up to 7 feet wide.
Gin Fizz® (J. chinensis ‘RIKAG’ USPP 31,994): Green needles, bears heavy crop of small, round, bluish cones, 10 to 18 feet tall and 7 to 10 feet wide.
Blue Point Chinese Juniper: Blue-green needles, teardrop shape, 12 feet tall.
Kaizuka Chinese juniper planted as an accent to soften the appearance of the wall. Copyright
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
Blue Point Chinese juniper has a characteristic teardrop shape.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
Burkii Red-cedar: Male, bluish-silver juvenile needles mature to gray-green in summer; broad pyramidal form, 15 to 25 feet tall and two-thirds as wide.
Canaertii Red-cedar: Female, dark green foliage, columnar form when young, becoming irregular with age; height of 50 feet.
Emerald Sentinel (J. virginiana ‘Corcorcor’): Dark green needles, blue cones, narrow form, fast grower: a specimen in Spartanburg, South Carolina was 30
feet tall and 10 feet wide after 15 years. A chance seedling selected at a nursery in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1967.
Aquavita™ (J. virginiana ‘FARROWJVBF’, USPP 33,287): Blue needles and cones, dense, pyramidal habit, 12 to 15 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. Selected from breeding program at a nursery in Warwick, Maryland, in 2010.
Silver Eastern Red-cedar (J. virginiana ‘Glauca’): Many clones, silvery blue needles in the spring fade to green in summer. Females produce waxy, dark purple-blue cones. Form ranges from columnar to narrow pyramidal, 15 to 25 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide.
Regal Variegated Eastern Red-cedar (J. virginiana ‘Regal’): Gold needles. At 15 years, it was 14 feet tall and two-thirds as wide in Raleigh, North Carolina. Discovered in Farmville, Virginia.
‘Brodie’: Female, bright green foliage that doesn’t bronze in winter, upright, pyramidal form, silvery cones, 20 to 30 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide.
The gold-tipped branchlets of Regal variegated eastern red-cedar make it an exceptional choice as a specimen or accent plant in the landscape.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
Brodie southern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana ‘Brodie’) can be used as a screen or as a landscape specimen.
Robert F. Polomski, ©2025 Clemson Extension
Providence™ (Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola ‘JVBP3’): Green needles, feathery branches, strong, pyramidal form, 35–45 feet tall and 15–20 feet wide. Discovered in Athens, Georgia.
Tapestry™ (Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola ‘JVADR’): Dense green pyramidal form, 20 to 40 feet tall and 10 to 18 feet wide. Discovered in Adrian, Georgia.
Blue Spires™ (J. virginiana ‘RLH-SS1PI’ USPP 30,017): Male, bluish-green needles, dense, upright, pyramidal form. 30 feet tall and 15 feet wide. Bred and selected in Long Creek, South Carolina.
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