What I’ve discovered over the past ten years or so is that there are very few evergreen trees/shrubs that thrive/survive with poor draining soil and deer as frequent visitors. One of the exceptions to date for me (fingers crossed) has been Juniper ‘Wichita Blue’.
From all that I’ve read over the years, this tree is intolerant of wet soil but I have had no issues to date (3 years and counting). And I am happy to report that the deer have not as much nibbled a branch. So far so awesome.
So while I hope and pray that this tree continues to stay alive for me, I will continue to enjoy the fantastic blue green needle color.
And use that blue color and texture as a foil to my other trees/shrubs/perennials/shrubs in my mixed garden beds.
Not to mention the enjoyment of having some actual color in winter.
… beyond ornamental grass brown (I’m copyrighting that Crayola).
Some additional information on Juniper Wichita Blue, commonly known as Rocky Mountain Juniper:
- Mature height from 10′ to 15′
- Mature width of 4′ to 6′
- Zones 3 – 7
- Full sun preferred
- Prefers dry and sandy soil (of which I have no concept)
- Native to the Rocky Mountains and other mountainous areas in the U.S. and Canada
I have four relatively smaller versions of these in my landscape to date and would make the financial commitment to more but I still want to let things play out and see how these dudes respond.
I crave that blue color but I’ve found other options are way more expensive, especially any of significance size. I’ve seen lot of criticism with Juniper ‘Wichita Blue’ and it being so “common” and a favorite of the big box stores but I’m not one of those people … yet. I’m riding this one out for now.
Hopefully they all make it out of this winter OK. They seem to be taking a beating out there.
More to come.
