An evergreen border is judged in February, not July. When the herbaceous plants have collapsed and the lawn is sulking, what remains is structure: shape, texture and a little colour in the foliage. Junipers are good at this. They shrug off wind, cope with poor soil and come in forms that range from ankle-high carpets to narrow spires. Put the right ones in the right places, add a few companion evergreens, and the border will look intentional all year for perhaps a morning's work in spring.
Most junipers want sun and sharp drainage. Give them that and they ask for little else: no staking after the first year, no feeding to speak of, no deadheading, no annual cut-back. Their foliage holds colour through winter, and the blue-grey and gold forms lift a border that would otherwise be a wall of plain green.
Two things are worth knowing before you buy. Junipers do not regenerate from old, bare wood, so any pruning has to stay within the green growth. And they dislike sitting wet. On heavy clay, plant on a slight mound of improved soil, or choose something else for the soggy corner at the bottom of the garden.
Junipers fall into three useful groups for border work. Pick from each so the planting has a floor, a middle and a few vertical accents.
Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chip' and J. squamata 'Blue Carpet' both stay under about 40cm and spread a metre and a half or more. Juniperus procumbens 'Nana' is slower and neater, which suits a small garden. Use them at the front, where their dense mats smother weeds.
The Pfitzer juniper (Juniperus × media) and its gold-leaved forms, such as 'Old Gold', make broad arching shrubs of roughly 1–1.5m. They need room, so allow at least 1.5m between plants and keep them away from narrow paths.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Skyrocket' is a pencil-thin column, ideal for a tight space or a pair flanking a gate. Juniperus communis 'Hibernica' is softer and more informal. Both can splay under heavy snow, so knock it off in winter or tie the stems loosely with soft twine.
This assumes a bed about 5m long and 1.5m deep against a fence, in sun for most of the day. Adjust the numbers to suit your space, but keep the layered principle.
Repeat plants in odd numbers and contrast textures rather than collecting one of everything. A spiky juniper against rounded leaves reads well; three different variegated shrubs in a row does not.
Reliable partners include Euonymus fortunei cultivars for a low, glossy frame, Skimmia japonica for winter buds and berries, Sarcococca confusa for scent in January, and Hebe for late-summer flowers. In a sheltered, mild spot, Pittosporum tenuifolium adds fine dark foliage. Lavender, rosemary and thyme suit the same dry, sunny conditions, though they can look tired after a cold, wet winter.
If you were planning to use box, think again. Box blight and the box tree moth have made it a high-maintenance choice in many areas. Ilex crenata or yew will do a similar job with far less anxiety.
Plant in early autumn or early spring, when the soil is workable and roots can settle before the extremes. Fork a bucket of garden compost into each planting hole and add grit on clay. Set the rootball so its top sits level with the surrounding soil, firm it in and water thoroughly.
For the first two summers, water deeply once a week in dry spells rather than little and often. After that, established junipers manage on their own. A spring mulch of bark or gravel will suppress weeds, conserve moisture and set off the foliage. Keep the mulch a few centimetres clear of the stems to avoid collar rot.
Junipers are forgiving about neglect but unforgiving about bad pruning. The key is to work with their natural shape and never cut into old, bare wood, because it rarely produces new shoots. If you need to reduce size, do it gradually over several years, cutting back to a side branch within the green growth.
Late spring to early summer is the safest window, after the worst of the cold but before the plant slows down for winter. Light tip pruning keeps groundcovers dense and uprights compact. Remove any dead, damaged or crossing branches at any time. For columnar forms like 'Skyrocket', trim the side shoots to keep them narrow, but leave the leader alone unless you want to reduce height — and even then, expect a slower, more rounded shape.
Heavy snow can splay upright junipers and snap branches. Knock snow off gently with a broom after a storm. In exposed sites, tie the stems of tall forms loosely with soft twine in autumn and remove it in spring. Avoid shearing junipers into tight formal shapes; they look better with a relaxed, natural outline, and shearing exposes more bare wood.
If you can’t see green when you look at the cut end, you’ve gone too far. Stop and leave the rest for another year.
Junipers are tough, but a few problems are worth knowing about.
Prevention is simpler than cure: plant in full sun, improve heavy soil with grit and organic matter, and avoid overhead watering in the evening.
Once established, a juniper border asks for little more than a walk round with a mug of tea. Here is the whole year in outline.
Junipers are strong shapes, so a little repetition goes a long way. Plant groundcovers in odd-numbered groups rather than a single straggly line. Repeat the same upright cultivar at intervals to pull the eye along. Contrast the soft, feathery texture of junipers with something spiky, such as a phormium or a yucca, or something glossy and rounded, such as euonymus. Avoid mixing too many different foliage colours in one small bed; two or three is plenty. The result should look like a considered composition, not a collection.
With the right junipers and a few companion plants, your border will hold its shape through frost, wind and weeks of neglect. The work is front-loaded: a good planting in autumn or spring, deep watering for two summers, and then the garden looks after itself. That is the quiet pleasure of an evergreen border — you get to enjoy it most when everything else has given up.
Photo: hunt-er / Pixabay
