Juniper Keteleeri

Juniper 'Keteleeri' (Juniperus chinensis 'Keteleeri') is the conifer to plant when you need height in a narrow space and would rather not think about it again. It grows to about 6m tall and only 2.5m wide over ten to fifteen years, holding a clean conical shape without shaping or staking. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, wind and salt tolerant, it handles sites where softer screening plants give up.

Why you'll love it

• Tall and narrow without trimming. The conical habit is natural, so a row stays formal with no shearing.
• It copes with hard sites. Wind, salt spray, poor soil, drought and frost are all within its range, a rare list for an evergreen this size.
• Evergreen structure through winter. Dense grey green foliage right down to the ground, so the screen works in every month.
• Birds use it. The dense interior gives small birds a safe roost, and the berry cones are taken through winter.

Where it works best

Screening and hedging. Plant 1.5m apart for a dense evergreen screen. At that spacing the cones knit into a solid wall while each tree keeps its own outline.

Driveways and avenues. For a formal driveway line, stretch the spacing to 2.5m or 3m so each tree reads individually. The narrow width means it will not crowd a car door years later.

Windbreaks and feature planting. A staggered double row at 1.5m filters wind across an exposed block, and a single specimen works as a vertical accent at an entry.

Growing Juniper 'Keteleeri' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, always. Junipers thin badly in shade and do not recover. It suits cool temperate, warm temperate, Mediterranean, arid and semi-arid gardens, and is fully frost hardy. Humid subtropical and tropical gardens are the wrong call: constant wet warmth invites fungal problems inside the dense canopy.

Soil. Any reasonable soil that drains. It tolerates poor, rocky and sandy ground better than most conifers, and will not accept waterlogging. On clay, plant on a raised mound and improve the whole bed.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then taper off. After two seasons it is genuinely drought tolerant. Slow release fertiliser in early spring is enough; overfeeding produces soft growth that spoils the shape.

Pruning. Almost none. Tip prune lightly in late winter for a tighter cone. Never cut into bare brown wood, since junipers do not reshoot from it and the gap stays for good.

What to expect when it arrives

It is sold as tubestock and in 75L and 100L containers, and the choice matters. Tubes are young plants under 300mm, cheap enough to line a long boundary, but they take eight to ten years to reach screening height. The 75L and 100L trees arrive as established specimens with real height on day one.

Expect around 300mm to 400mm of growth a year, and some interior browning after transit, which is normal on conifers. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, which applies to the 75L and 100L sizes. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Read our guide to growing and maintaining conifers.
• Browse the full conifer range for other shapes and sizes.
• Compare other tall and narrow screening plants for tight boundaries.
• See our picks for lining a driveway in Australia.

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a screen?

1.5m apart in a single row. Any tighter and the lower branches shade each other and brown off from the inside, the one mistake that ruins a juniper screen.

How fast does it grow?

Around 300mm to 400mm a year in a sunny position, reaching about 6m in ten to fifteen years. It is steady rather than fast, which is part of why the shape stays neat.

Can I keep it shorter than 6m?

Yes, within reason. Tip pruning in late winter holds it around 3m to 4m, but you must stay in green growth. Cutting the leader hard once mature leaves a flat top.