When growing trees, their strength is one of the most important factors that people need to look out for. This is because the plants are going to be kept for decades which is why it is best that the user’s plant one that is durable and easy to maintain. Talking about this, juniper trees are among some of the most popular choices as the plant is mostly known for being low maintenance. The tree is considered to be quite strong as it is durable enough to last the harshest weather conditions without a sweat.
The trees were usually found in jungles and mountainous ranges where they were surrounded by rocks and not an inch of water. Even in these conditions, the trees survived hundreds of years because of their ability to supply food, shelter for animals, and self-prune. The branches from the trees are also taken to make furniture and wooden shelters. With that being said, some users ask questions about the growth rate of a juniper tree. Hence, we will be using this article to provide you with relevant information that can help in getting a viable answer.
Juniper Tree Growth Rate
When talking about the growth rate of a juniper tree, people should understand that these are planted in different ways. Some users grow out the plants as a groundcover, while some variants are often used to make shrubs. Depending on how you maintain the trees and what conditions they are kept in, their growth can easily be affected. This is why there are several answers to the question people often ask. Simply talking about how much a standard juniper tree can grow in optimal conditions, the answer is 1 foot. However, this can easily start to vary when you get into the varieties and conditions of the tree.
Moving on to shrubs and groundcovers being used, people can easily expect them to grow about 4 to even 8 inches every year. However, instead of the plant growing upright, people should understand that the growth is taken when viewing the plant’s width. This is because groundcovers and shrubs both grow along the garden instead of growing out like a standard tree. Aside from this, most of the tree variants can be expected to grow about 8 to 12 inches every year. Some dwarf variants of the tree will grow even slower than shrubs. These can be expected to only grow about 1 to 4 inches a year.
Pruning Juniper Trees and Its Benefits
Now that people understand the growth of juniper trees, you must keep in mind that the plants also have to be pruned. This is necessary if you want your trees to look tidy instead of branches being spread all around the garden. The best technique that can be used when dealing with these trees is pinching. This requires people to remove half of the branch instead of cutting at the start. This is because aggressive pruning can cause the surrounding branches of the plant to also die out.
Once proper pruning is maintained, the growth of the trees will be kept under control. Another thing to note is that pruning can help the plant in growing even quickly. This is because extra branches popping out can sometimes prevent the tree from getting its nutrients properly. These also prevent the air circulation required by the plant which can halt its progress. Hence, ensuring that you remove dead branches every year is a necessary step to keep your juniper trees growing.
Keeping Juniper Trees Healthy
Finally, keeping your trees healthy is another requirement that should be taken care of to ensure their growth. When it comes to this, the steps required are quite minimal. The only thing people have to do is keep their trees or shrubs in a location where they can get constant sunlight. The more sunlight they get, the healthier the trees can stay.
Junipers don’t require much watering but keeping the soil around them moist is a great way of allowing the trees to take minerals from the soil around them. Talking about this, adding fertilizers to the soil, and keeping other plants away from the trees can help in giving their growth a boost.