Juniper 'Gold Cone'
Juniperus communis 'Gold Cone' · Cupressaceae
A narrow, dense column of juniper with bright golden-yellow new growth in spring that softens to green-gold.
- Size
- 6 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around juniper 'Gold Cone'
The planner designed this bed around juniper 'Gold Cone' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 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 juniper 'Gold Cone' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Juniper 'Gold Cone' × 1, chartreuse leaves
- 2 Bloody cranesbill × 3, pink
- 3 Leadwort × 15, blue
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 5 Bearded iris 'Immortality' × 3, white
- 6 Quaking grass × 8, tan
- 7 Sicilian honey garlic × 3, cream
- 8 Hyacinth × 12, purple
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does quaking grass.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 6 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to bearded iris 'Immortality' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 16 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 most in flower at one time is 4 kinds, from late May. Leadwort is planted in four places along the bed, which gives it rhythm.
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 juniper 'Gold Cone' goes in a border
At 6 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
A slim exclamation mark for a small bed: it takes up no more ground than a perennial. Tie it loosely in winter where snow is heavy, to stop the column splaying.
- A narrow vertical accent
- Formal pairs
- Small gardens
What to plant with juniper 'Gold Cone'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Blue fescue: low enough (10 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': adds the flowers, mid August to mid October; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- English lavender 'Hidcote': adds the flowers, late June to late July; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about juniper 'Gold Cone'
Does juniper 'Gold Cone' need sun or shade?
Juniper 'Gold Cone' 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.
What zones does juniper 'Gold Cone' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 7. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should juniper 'Gold Cone' be planted?
20 in (50 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6 ft (180 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many juniper 'Gold Cone' plants do I need?
At 20 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 4 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 14 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is juniper 'Gold Cone' 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.
What does juniper 'Gold Cone' look like in winter?
Juniper 'Gold Cone' keeps its chartreuse and green 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 Chip' Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chip'
- 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 '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
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 6 ft (180 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 20 in (50 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; chartreuse, green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cupressaceae
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.