Juniperus Chinensis - Cultivation and Uses

Cultivation and Uses

This popular ornamental tree or shrub in gardens and parks has more than 100 named cultivars selected for various characters, such as yellow foliage (e.g. cvs. 'Aurea', 'Tremonia'), permanently juvenile foliage (e.g. cv. 'Shoosmith'), columnar crown shape (cv. 'Columnaris'), abundant cones (e.g. cv. 'Kaizuka'), etc. Chinese Juniper, as a non-native species in the U.S., should not be used there in natural plantings. The cultivar 'Shimpaku' is a very important bonsai subject. The Chinese juniper is widely used in bonsai, both as individual plants, such as the 250-year-old "Omiya tree" in the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in the UK, and in groups, such as the well-known Goshin on display at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the US National Arboretum.

The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-

• 'Aurea' (Golden Chinese juniper)
• 'Blaauw'
• 'Grey owl'
• 'Kaizuka'
• 'Obelisk'
• 'Plumosa aurea'
• 'Pyramidalis'

The hybrid between Juniperus chinensis and Juniperus sabina, known as Juniperus × pfitzeriana (Pfitzer Juniper, synonym J. × media), is also very common as a cultivated plant. This hybrid grows only as a shrub, never a tree, making it suitable for smaller gardens:-

• J. × pfitzeriana 'Old gold'
• J. × pfitzeriana 'Sulphur spray'

• As a 250 year old bonsai in the Birmingham Botanical Gardens