Creeping juniper 'Blue Chip'
Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chip' · Cupressaceae
A low carpet of feathery, silver-blue foliage that is tipped with purple in winter.
- Size
- 10 in tall, 8 ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around creeping juniper 'Blue Chip'
The planner designed this bed around creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' × 1, blue-green leaves
- 2 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 4, purple
- 3 Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' × 4, yellow
- 4 Wild bergamot × 4, lavender
- 5 Sedum 'Autumn Joy' × 5, pink
- 6 Dwarf bearded iris × 11, blue
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 5, purple
- 8 Turkestan tulip × 12, white
- 9 Hyacinth × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- The only fine leaves here. The rest are medium and bold. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 10 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 31% of the edge.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
- Beside sedum 'Autumn Joy'. A recognised partner: the planner puts such plants together where it can.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 11 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height from mid August, with 4 kinds out together. Among the neighbours here are two pairs of recognised partners, such as creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' and sedum 'Autumn Joy'.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' goes in a border
At 10 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
The bluest of the creeping junipers, and a little mounded, so it looks softer than the flat 'Blue Rug'. It covers a hot, dry bank where nothing else will grow.
- Evergreen groundcover on dry banks
- Blue foliage all year
- Trailing over walls
What to plant with creeping juniper 'Blue Chip'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': adds the flowers, mid August to mid October; bold leaves against its fine ones; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it.
- Little bluestem: tall enough (3 ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Mugo pine: tall enough (5 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about creeping juniper 'Blue Chip'
Does creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' need sun or shade?
Creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 9. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' be planted?
5 ft (150 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 8 ft (250 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 10 in (25 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' plants do I need?
Usually one. At 5 ft (150 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 5 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat creeping juniper 'Blue Chip'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' look like in winter?
Creeping juniper 'Blue Chip' keeps its blue-green and silver leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Juniperus
- Creeping juniper 'Blue Rug' Juniperus horizontalis 'Wiltonii'
- Creeping juniper 'Mother Lode' Juniperus horizontalis 'Mother Lode'
- Japanese garden juniper Juniperus procumbens 'Nana'
- Juniper 'Blue Arrow' Juniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow'
- Juniper 'Blue Star' Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star'
- Juniper 'Gold Cone' Juniperus communis 'Gold Cone'
- Juniper 'Grey Owl' Juniperus virginiana 'Grey Owl'
- Juniper 'Old Gold' Juniperus x pfitzeriana 'Old Gold'
- Juniper 'Sea Green' Juniperus chinensis 'Sea Green'
- Juniper 'Skyrocket' Juniperus scopulorum 'Skyrocket'
- Shore juniper 'Blue Pacific' Juniperus conferta 'Blue Pacific'
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Plants for slopes and banks
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen shrubs for structure
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Silver and grey-leaved plants
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub (groundcover)
- Size
- 10 in (25 cm) tall, 8 ft (250 cm) wide
- Plant
- 5 ft (150 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; blue-green, silver
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cupressaceae
- Comes from
- Northern North America into Canada
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, heat, salt, pollution, erosion
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.