Taylor Juniper Tree Care Guide

The Taylor Juniper trees play an essential part in the nursery trade, especially when it comes to cold hardiness and where you find cedar apple rust present.

It has a columnar silhouette cultivated from the Juniperus virginiana, the eastern red cedar. So, if you want an attractive yet durable but fast-growing tree substitute for the Italian cypress, you have found it.

Plant Name: Juniperus virginiana Taylor

Other Name: Taylor Juniper

Plant Type: Coniferous Evergreen Tree

Native Areas: Eastern United States

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Watering: Moderate watering and drought resistant

Fertilizer: Slow Release Fertilizer

Toxicity: Toxic Berries for Humans and Pets

Temperature: Drought Tolerant and Cold Hardy

Propagation: Semi-hardwood Cuttings

Growth: 15 to 20 feet tall and 4 feet wide

Soil Type: Acidic Soil Types

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-9

More About Juniperus Virginiana Taylor

The Taylor Juniper has a slender columnar silhouette for the garden to create a privacy screen and design element for the front door or used as a specimen plant. In addition, the Taylor Juniper offers a dramatic appearance to any landscape with a vertical height of up to 30 feet.

Placed to form a barrier, the hedge grows with a base spread to four feet and does not take up loads of space. As a result, the Taylor Juniper trees are fast growers with a growth rate of three to five feet per year.

The tree grows with rich blue-green foliage radiating in the light but needs enough space for sunlight to hit them from all sides. The Taylor Juniper makes for a dense privacy screen and adds depth to rock gardens or other landscapes.

Another notable thing is that the tree does have an extensive root system and is best grown away from foundations and structures. Another interesting fact is that many people see Taylor Junipers as a weed in the garden.

While the male Taylor Junipers do not flower, the female trees produce blue-purple berries that work well in bird gardens. The bark of the outdoor trees exfoliates from the trunk.

Taylor Juniper Plant Care And Cedar Apple Rust

taylor juniper

One of the best plants to grow as a windbreak for fruit trees, like the apple trees, is the Juniperus virginiana Taylor. The tree is resistant to Phomopsis juniper blight. Once you plant Taylor Junipers in a secure spot, the plant is carefree, with few issues arising.

The Best Soil Types For Taylor Juniper Trees

When planting the cultivated variety, it can adapt to average soil that is moist but not soggy. The tree tolerates dryness, but the root ball does not tolerate constant wet soil. Thus, when making the planting hole, add sandy soil that drains well and is amended with some potting soil.

Even the pH level is essential and needs to be below 7.0. So, provide your Taylor Juniper with well-drained soils, plant the root ball at ground level, and remove the weed growth around the planting location.

Also, ensure you tamper with the soil to remove air pockets around the root ball. Likewise, ensure enough space for your tree, considering the mature height. Once planted, add some wood chips as mulch.

It will help conserve moisture and suppress weed growth.

Taylor Juniper Prefers Full Sun

 Juniperus virginiana under full sun

Juniperus virginiana Taylor thrives in full sun. Nonetheless, if you grow the plant in partial shade, it will slow down the growth and the color of the foliage.

When grown as a hedge, provide enough spacing in direct sunlight between each tree for light to shine on all sides as it reaches its mature height.

With the upright form, the Taylor Juniper also looks beautiful in Asian gardens.

Watering Taylor Juniper Tree

When planted, the red cedar tree will need supplemental watering for the root system to become established. The critical thing to remember is that this is not a straight species but a cultivar.

So, water weekly with ten gallons per caliper inch for the Tayolor Junipers’ trunk diameter. Do this during the growing season for the first two years to build a strong root structure. After that, the tree grows shallow roots; you need to water slowly but prevent overwatering.

Once your tree displays new growth and becomes established, you can water less as it can tolerate dry periods. Hence, underwatering is way better than overwatering, resulting in tree uprooting.

Temperature and Humidity

eastern red cedar @flickr eastern red cedar @flickr

If you live in the cooler growing zones, then Taylor Juniper trees are for you. It grows much better than the Italian cypress in those regions.

The columnar will grow tall to form a privacy screen or hedge and will not struggle in freezing temperatures.

Still importantly, keep the air circulation moving in high-humidity areas to prevent fungal diseases and pests from invading your outdoor plants.

Fertilizing Taylor Juniper Tree

You can provide supplemental food for your Taylor Juniper tree but not compulsory. You can give them a boost of slow-release fertilizer made for evergreen conifers like fertilizer spikes. You can do this once a year during the growing season in spring.

Pruning Juniper Trees

No pruning is needed except for removing dead branches, as the natural forms are tall yet slender with pyramidal taper. You may find pruning your Taylor Juniper trees will disrupt their natural form. Pruning off the damaged branches can go from early spring to early summer or whenever you notice the foliage looking frail.

Propagation of Taylor Juniper Tree

The best propagation method is using semi-hardwood cuttings from mid-spring to summer.

  1. Prepare a pot with well-drained soil made up of one part peat and one part perlite.

  2. Moisten the soil evenly but remember your tree does not love wet soils.

  3. Use your sterilized shears and remove this year’s growth about six inches long where the old and new growth meets.

  4. Remove all the foliage from the bottom and leave the top section.

  5. Dip the cut end into the rooting hormone and insert it into the potting mixture halfway.

  6. Remoisten the soil and the cutting with water spray, and cover the container with plastic wrap.

  7. Leave your cutting in a warm spot with bright indirect light, remove the cover daily for an hour, and mist water as needed.

  8. Once the cutting develops a strong root system, you can remove the cover and care for your tree as normal to harden it up for transplanting to the garden.

Taylor Juniper Similar Plants

The Taylor Juniper is a cultivar and one of a kind, but there are other Juniper trees you can grow in your landscape.

All Gold Shore Junipers

all gold shore juniper

The Juniper grows well in the growing zone six to eight and makes for an exceptional ground cover. It has golden yellow foliage year-round with a warm orange-red tint in winter.

Blue Pacific Junipers

blue pacific juniper

These Juniper trees grow best in zone five to nine and are hardy, helping to prevent soil erosion. It has feathery green leaves turning to silver green in the winter.

Blue Rug Juniper

blue rug juniper

It is a fast-growing creeping ground cover for steep hills. The low-growing shrub also prevents soil erosion, and it is disease-resistant.

Dwarf Japanese Garden Junipers

dwarf japanese garden juniper

The cultivar is another compact groundcover variety that flows outwards in a cascading way. It is ideal for rock gardens or growing down walls or a container. The leafage is a vivid green that transitions to a blue and purple shade when temperatures drop.

Taylor Juniper Common Diseases and Pests

The Taylor Juniper is an attractive tree that is reported to be cedar rust-resistant. Still, it does need to deal with your normal pests like spider mites and bagworms. You can remove the worms manually by snipping the bags off using shears. You can hose them down for spider mites and treat the infestation with neem oil or insecticidal soap.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Taylor Juniper tree is the fastest-growing species, with a growth rate of 3 to 5 feet per year.

In the Juniper trees, the upright Wichita Blue Juniper is fantastic with the blue greenery and grows bushy and dense, working well as privacy hedges and windbreaks.

Red Cedar is one of the most fragrant trees, and people use it to repel insects. In contrast, the woods are used to make chests.

Trees like the Taylor Juniper can self-prune as it sheds branches for survival, while the tree sap is rot-resistant. In addition, you can use the tree for growing hedges to privacy screens.

You can find the Taylor Juniper tree at your local nursery, but Plantly has this unique tree available right here to buy. All you need is to order your Taylor Juniper and provide it with full sun and water to grow.

Whether you want to buy, sell, or simply reach out to other plant enthusiasts, Plantly is the right place to be!

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