Looking at Plants

Juniperus virginiana

COMMON NAMES

Eastern Red Cedar, Red Cedar

Juniperus (joo-NIP-ur-us) - Latin name for the Juniper

virginiana (vur-jin-ee-AY-nuh) – from Virginia

GROUP 

Gymnosperm

FAMILY 

Cupressaceae

ORIGIN

Eastern North America

DESCRIPTION

Eastern Red Cedar is an evergreen conifer that averages 35 to 40 feet in height with a spread of 10 to 15 feet. Its habit of growth is symmetrical, pyramidal (especially when younger) to broadly conical to columnar. It has a moderate growth rate.

Leaves are evergreen, scale-like when mature and awl-like when young, soft, fine-textured, aromatic, compact in density, and dark green to blue-green in color. Leaves may turn brown or bronze in colder winter zones.

Trunk bark is gray to reddish-brown. It will peel in thin strips on mature trees. It often flares at the base as it ages.

As a gymnosperm it has no true flowers and no true fruit.

The seed cones on female trees are round, about ¼ inch in diameter, bluish to blackish-green, berry-like, and glaucous. The cones on male trees are round, less than ¼ inch in diameter, and yellow-brown in color.

HARDINESS

It is hardy in USDA zones 2 to 9.

LIGHT

Full sun; it will tolerate light shade, but with less density.

SALT

Good Salt Spray Tolerance – it will grow near the shore but will benefit from a little protection such as behind the first row of plantings or behind the first dunes.

Moderate Soil Salt Water Tolerance – it will tolerate brief intrusions of brackish water and rare flooding of salt water

SOIL

It will grow on a wide variety of well-drained soils in the pH range of 5.5 to 7.0. It doesn’t like consistent, overly wet soils.

WATERING

It has good drought tolerance once established, so minimal watering is needed for survival in dry spells. As with most plants, though, ample irrigation in droughts keeps it healthier and looking better.

PROPAGATION

Seed – faster germination with cold stratification; semi-hardwood tip cuttings taken in winter and placed under mist with a rooting hormone and scarred basal end will root in about 4 to 6 months.

PRUNING

Pruning is rarely done as its natural pyramidal form is an attractive feature.

FERTILIZING

It has no special fertilizer needs. Unless a soil test suggests otherwise, a slow-release balanced analysis fertilizer applied per the product label will work.

PESTS

Aphids, Bagworm, Juniper Scale, Juniper Webworm, Southern Red Mite, Northern Red Oak Kermes Scale, Brown Garden Snail,  Strawberry Root Weevil, Cypress Bark Beetle  

DISEASES

Cedar Apple Rust, Twig Blights, Botryosphaeria Canker and Dieback, Rhizoctonia Root and Stem Rot, Cedar-Hawthorn Rust, Cedar-Quince Rust, Phytophthora Root Rot    

DEER

Resistant

There are very few totally “deer-proof” plants. There are also, relatively speaking, few plants that are considered a preferred food supply of deer. Most plants fall in the big gap between. One of the biggest variables is the available preferred food supply in a given area. If their preferred food is scarce, they will munch on most anything.

OTHER

Avoid planting near apple trees due to it being a host for Cedar-apple Rust.

USES

Specimen tree, screening/windbreak, shade tree, Christmas tree

TOXICITY

California Poison Control gives Juniperus spp. a listing of:

1 - Dermal Skin - contact with these plants can cause symptoms ranging from redness, itching, and rash to painful blisters like skin burns.

3 – Moderate - Ingestion of these plants is expected to cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms that may cause illness but is not life-threatening.

University of Wisconsin lists as: Juniper - Leaves - Skin irritation, may be severe

University of California says of Juniperus spp.: Minor Toxicity: Ingestion of these plants may cause minor illnesses such as vomiting or diarrhea. If ingested, call the Poison Control Center or your doctor.