Blue Forest Juniper

Blue Forest Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Forest') is a prostrate conifer that stays around 35cm high and spreads to about 1.5m across. The foliage is soft blue grey through the warm months and picks up purple tones in winter, so the planting shifts colour with the season. Few groundcovers hold a dry, windy, salty bank and still look considered.

Why you'll love it

• Colour that changes through the year. Blue grey in summer, purple tinted in winter, never a bare patch between.
• Genuinely tough. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, coastal and salt tolerant, wind tolerant and happy in poor soil.
• Stays low without trimming. It tops out near 35cm, so it will not creep over a path edge or a low wall.
• Dense enough to hold ground. A closed mat leaves little bare soil, so less weeding and less mulch.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 1m apart for dense, even cover. Ten plants at that spacing hold roughly ten square metres once knitted, which takes two to three seasons.

Rockeries and gravel gardens. It threads between boulders and softens hard edges, and the blue grey sits well against pale stone.

Retaining walls and slopes. Along the top of a wall it cascades over the face, and on a batter it stabilises soil that would otherwise wash.

Growing Blue Forest Juniper in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun all day if possible, since shade opens the growth out and dulls the colour. It suits cool temperate, warm temperate, Mediterranean and arid or semi-arid gardens. Humid tropical and subtropical gardens are not its climate.

Soil. Drainage matters more than fertility, and poor, gravelly or sandy soils are ideal. On heavy ground raise the bed and work coarse sand through, because sitting water will kill it.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then only in extended dry spells. A light dressing of complete fertiliser in early spring is plenty, and overfeeding produces soft, floppy growth.

Pruning. Trim only to shorten a shoot heading somewhere it should not. Cut back to a side branch with green foliage, because junipers do not reliably reshoot from bare old wood.

What to expect when it arrives

It is supplied in two sizes: a 140mm pot in a pack of ten, and a 200mm pot in a pack of six. You buy this one by the group, and the 140mm pack at 1m spacing covers a useful area for the money. The 200mm plants close the gaps a season sooner.

Plants travel well and are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Expect roots to move first and top growth to follow, with noticeable spread from the second spring. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the full conifer range
• Rockery and gravel bed plants
• Growing and maintaining conifers
• Trailing plants for a retaining wall

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

One metre apart for a dense groundcover. Tighter spacing costs more without closing the cover much faster.

Will it stay low?

Yes. It is a genuinely prostrate form that holds around 35cm and spreads sideways, so it needs no annual cutting back.

Can I walk on it?

No. It is a groundcover, not a lawn substitute: the branches break rather than bounce back. Run steppers through it for a path.

Why does it turn purple in winter?

Cold weather brings out pigments in the foliage. The blue grey deepens through the coldest months and reverts as it warms, and it is a sign of health, not stress.