Hedges: Moonglow/Wichita Blue Juniper

Discussion in 'Gymnosperms (incl. Conifers)' started by rafin37, Dec 12, 2005.

  1. rafin37

    rafin37 Member

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    I will like to plant Moonglow/Wichita Blue Junipers to create a privacy screen. How far apart should I place them?
     
  2. kathleen45

    kathleen45 Member

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    I would like to plant Moonglow Blue Junipers to create a privacy screen or hedge. How far apart should I place them?
     
  3. rafin37

    rafin37 Member

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    They grow from about 14 feet for the Wichita Blue to 16 for the Moonglow. If you want to create a screen for privacy, I reccomend to place them 3 1/2 - 4 feet apart.
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    I think that spacing should be about right for good compromise between sizes likely to be reached later* and getting screening fairly quickly.

    *15'-20' mature heights usually given for such non-dwarf cultivars seem pretty unlikely considering how big the parent species sometimes grows; likewise multiple red maple cultivars not selected for dwarfness conveniently also somehow happen to grow only 20'-30' tall - yet the parent species grows triple that (and so on, with multiple commonly sold species)
     
  5. Karalyn

    Karalyn Active Member

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    Are you saying that that you don't think the Blue Junipers will get that tall and what do you think is the timeline for their mature height?
     
  6. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    They are pretty slow, maybe about 1 ft. per year being typical. Tallest wild specimens in NW Washington over 60 ft. tall, multiple planted examples of locally native type over 20 ft. tall also seen. For other regions, look for large old existing examples there. Since tendency seems to be to imply prevalent selections like 'Moonglow' are smaller-growing than usual, by claiming small mature heights, but without actually stating such explicitly I would assume these are not actually smaller growing than usual at all. Understating full development is very common in commercial literature.
     
  7. sgbotsford

    sgbotsford Active Member 10 Years

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    You must remember that there are 3 classes of liars:

    Ordinary liars: You and me.
    Extraordinary liars: These end up as lawyers, politicians, and used car salesmen.
    Super Liars: These have lying as a superpower. They forecast weather and write garden catalogs.

    If height is a disadvantage, numbers reported will be for an abused specimen in crap soil. If height is an advantage, it will be with a Florida growing season, perfect soil, and lots of coddling.

    That said: My J. scoppulorum have been growing at about 4-5 inches a year. In the 18 years I've had them they moved from about 10 feet to about 16. I don't know which cultivar.
     
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