Juniper
Juniperus sp.
Juniper is one of only two conifers that are truely native to the UK. With narrow-leaved prickly foliage, there are many forms. These range from large to small, groundcover to narrowly upright. They range in colour too from grey/blue to apple green and yellow.
This demonstrates the ‘prickly’ nature of pretty much all Juniper foliage, and the black berries that gives gin its particular flavour.
The Irish juniper – Juniperus communis ‘Hibernica’ – is a more tree-like shape, being columnar in appearance and not very tall. This image shows the grey colouring, very different from the type.
The Shore Juniper – Juniperus conferta – ‘Apple-Green’ in colour is a naturally prostrate growing Juniper. It has all of the characteristics of a typical juniper, but will ‘flow’ over a wall, immitating it’s undulations, unlike most others.
Juniperus horizontalis – the Creeping Juniper, sometimes even called the Creeping Cedar, covers the soil like a carpet. Sometimes several metres across, they are great for concealing unsightly things, like manhole covers (don’t forget where they are though!).
This is the yellow ‘Pfitzer’ Juniper . Pfitzers get quite big and have semi-upright growth.
…. and this one is well named as ‘Skyrocket’