There are many different junipers...some turn color in winter, some do not, some are upright, some prostrate, some are prickly some not, some are green, some blue, etc etc. Microbiota is monotypic; the genus only has one species, Microbiota decussata, and no named cultivars. So what you see is what you get, and they reliably turn brown in winter and do not get 8' tall, as their growth habit is spreading. In some climates Microbiota does better with some shade. I'll let someone closer to you give you more detail. Good luck!

first.. we need to start with an ID ... pix here can get you such.. especially if you can add a pic of a cone

if its the one at the link.. its native and highly invasive .. and when i use that term.. i mean birds spread it EVERYWHERE .... hence the reason they are probably growing around the non-mowed part of your property ... [BTW.. if you simply stop mowing the blank parts.. i would bet in 5 years.. it will be covered with more juniper .. the lazy mans solution.. lol]

i would NOT transplant more ... though mostly bulletproof.. if some weird juniper plague comes alone.. you lose everything .. so i would suggest you diversify ...

many facts missing from your story.. but many county SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS... offer small plants very cheap.. for spring planting.. look in the phone book for YOUR COUNTY district office.. or try your county Extension office ...

as far as i am concerned.. most Microbiota are basically ground cover.. so you will not get height from them ..

as alternatives.. why not some banks of lilac.. forsythia ... etc ... add some seasonal color and interest to an otherwise monochromatic planting????

give us some pix.. and more info on lot size.. soil type ... etc ..

and even try the shrub forum ...

but do please!!! ... try to get out of filling it up with the same thing.. BORING !!!!

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I've used native junipers (Ashe and Viginia) down here to outline the yard from the surrounding pasture, because they were already here, evergreen, and they're hardy enough to survive here. Also used Arizona Cypress. The unplanned blue and green contrast has been pleasing to look at.
Would suggest you utilize what's already growing but as ken mentions try some different conifers (or other trees if desired) to mix in with them. Living in Z5 you should have several more conifer choices than just three as I had.
If you have a lot to plant would further suggest that the bulk of them be native selections for dependability and ease of starting and make exotics just here and there specimens.

"I was thinking about trying to transplant some of the new shoots into the bare spaces. I'm new to gardening though and am not sure if this is possible ..."

It's not. Junipers can be propagated from cuttings, but it isn't that simple, it needs special propagation methods with rooting hormone and (preferably) bottom heat and mist irrigation. Not easy for someone "new to gardening".

Resin

Regarding the post by formandfoliage, there is a named cv. 'Carnival' and also 'Jacobsen' which is sometimes incorrectly listed as a ssp.

Thx coxarb - I did a quick check before I wrote that as I didn't want to rely on my memory/knowledge and what looked like a reliable source (which now of course I can't find!) listed 'none'. Now I see also 'Gold Spot' and 'Sinclair' listed in the RHS Encyclopedia of conifers! And Edwin, if you are watching (I know you've been in the PNW - I have my spies, you know), I must also note M. decussata 'Filip's Pretty Pride'!

K. Day, this is an educated guess and nothing more, but I'd expect those junipers are Pfitzers. This based on their size and persistent winter greenness.

I like Pfitzers even though most of my colleagues consider them old-hat and boring. One of the things I like about them is that pruning can be done basically forever on them without deformation. Another aspect is their nice, naturally layered growth form.

Other than that, what those ^ guys said.

+oM

Thanks for all of the great info and ideas! I hadn't thought of different evergreens or even other things like Lilac or Forsythia! I think the addition of these types of plantings would really make it beautiful.

Sorry for being vague, I will try to clarify and add pics :) It looks like it will only let me add one photo so I've added a link to more.

I've not seen any "cones" but will look again tomorrow when the light is better. We've only been here a few months but I haven't noticed any berries on the Junipers either. Not sure if I missed them or perhaps this variety doesn't have berries.

We live just a few miles outside of Chicago and have about an acre of land altogether. Our soil is clay about 12-18 inches below the grass and we usually get a decent amount of rain in the spring and fall. Often it comes all at once though and isn't spread out....

Specifically I'm trying to tackle the East border (not west, sorry about that) of the property. Right now the eastern border of our property is a mix of densely growing trees (Mulberry, Locust & a few others yet to be identified), Buckthorn and Juniper (at least a 50' long hedge row ranging from 2'-8' tall). The challenge is that once we clear out all of the buckthorn the border plantings will be pretty bare in several spots. We live in a urban community so I'd like to maintain the privacy, noise reduction and animal habitat that the Junipers provide. Because of the dense trees and harsh winters we also need something hardy that can tolerate some shade. This is why I was thinking to start more Junipers from the shoots of existing bushes. I do love the idea of using other evergreens of varying colors and throwing in things like Lilac and Forsythia. That would add depth and character to our border. I was also thinking it might be nice to add a few fruit trees on the inside (western exposure) border as they would get a lot of sun there.

If hope that helps clarify. Thanks again for all of the comments, ideas and suggestions. If you have any additional suggestions as to what types of evergreens, shrubs, etc. would do well in a forested, partial shaded area please share. Thanks so much!

Here is a link that might be useful: KDay's Junipers

Here is another pic of the existing Juniper row on the East border.

Here is another pic of the Junipers with the trees and Buckthorn. All of the orange ties are buckthorn to be taken out in the spring. Once those are gone we'll have quite a bit of space to "fill in".

reminds me a lot of my 250 foot long row of juniper grey owl.. see link ..

many conifers have a winter color.. your close up looks like GOwl ... but the long distance pix seem very green.. but that might just be the winter color ... i will try to remember to look at mine later ...

its all grass in the middle????

when dealing with site blocks.. my first inclination is to try to make you think outside the box.. of all these plantings HAVE TO GO ON THE LOT LINE ... see pic below.. thats 250 feet to the neighbors house.. which doesnt appear any more.. but i didnt just plant at the lot line ...

i spent a lot of time.. and money.. messing with fruit.. let me put it this way.. i wish i had both back ... unless you are prepared to spray chemicals.. fruit is not worth it .... maybe one DWARF tree to play with.. but get it out of your head.. that you will save all this money growing your own fruit.. no.. you wont.. [there is a fruit forum when you want to dabble with this .. those peeps NEVER show up in other forums.. use them]

i think you need to ID a basic overview of what you want to do with the yard as a whole .... taking into account lawn mowing [that is why i put most of those beds in.. cut mowing from 2 hours to 20 mins ... in the pic below] .. kids.. play areas ... etc .... and once you have a general idea of your future use of the whole yard.. then you can start to delineate how to fill in your gaps ... and with what ...

e.g. a tree.. say a redbud.. 50 feet IN FROM THE BACK LOT LINE ... but placed directly between your sliding glass door and the worst neighbor view .. will block say 50 feet of view for 9 months of the year ... as compared to 5 plants way back out there ... if that makes any sense ....

finally.. you have to think of this as a 5 year plan ... you arent going to do all this in 3 months .. by PROPER spring planting time ... we need to ID some backbones.. and focus on those.. we'll hash out the rest over time ... [that is unless you can afford some checkbook gardening .. including hiring a landscaper to develop and plant the plan all at once] .. which means.. if you need/want.. instant gratification.. then spend the money.. otherwise we are investing in a 5 to 10 year plan ...

good luck

ken

there are other areas on my 5 acres.. where we can throw a football.. play plastic ball etc ... here the kids enjoy the paths and hide and seek .. i would NOT recommend this type of thing.. covering the whole yard if there are younger kids ....

{{gwi:240153}}
ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

"I've not seen any "cones" but will look again tomorrow when the light is better"

Microbiota cones are very small, and hard to see. Look closely at the undersides of the slower-growing shoots in the bushiest middle part of the plant for the tiny (2-3 mm) brown cones which usually contain just one seed (rarely two).

{{gwi:626445}}

Resin

resin.. she said what she has is juniper ... [which maybe we should question???]

and she is thinking of adding micorbiota in addition ...

she needs the ID pic for J virg .. please????

K!!! .. you need a pic like resin posted.. especially with a cone .. and this man will ID it ... as to species.. but not named cultivars ... he's a purist ... lol..

ken

"resin.. she said what she has is juniper ... [which maybe we should question???]"

I was responding to K Day's comment of having not seen any Microbiota cones ;-)

Resin

Wow, Ken, that's GORGEOUS! Color me impressed and jealous :) Thanks for the picture Pineresin. I took a picture just like yours and have attached it. So what do the experts think?

We know this is a process and will take years and we're good with that. This is by far the biggest yard our family has had so we'll have to learn as we go. I'd rather do what I can myself instead of paying someone. I know I'll make mistakes and things will change but how else will I learn? Besides nobody will care as much as I do... We have a general idea of what we'd like to do in different areas of the yard but honestly we want to live here for at least a year before making too many changes. There is a lot of plant life here already and I think watching it for a year or so will give us more ideas of what we want where and what, if anything, to do with what we have. For instance we have a tonne of Holly and Burning bushes scattered around the property but that's another project for later.

The East side of the property is the priority (other than a veg. garden) for the 2013 spring/summer. There's a tonne of Buckthorn choking out the other plant life so it seems urgent to me. The "Junpier" you see in the pictures has a good 5 feet or more of trees behind it, still on our property, so it isn't right on the edge of the property. The trees are scattered along the hard edge of the property. I also measured the "Juniper" when I was out there today and it is more like 15-20 feet deep. I'm thinking maybe I should cut some of the new growth reaching out into the yard... It does have "dusty" patches on the tips which I think you can see in the first picture I posted but it really is quite green overall. We're having a very mild winter here (it's 45*F right now) so perhaps that is impacting the color, not sure.

We do have a lot of grass right now and although I'd like to plant different gardens around the property (veg., shade, sitting patio, etc.) we do plan to keep a good bit of grass for the kids. Alas, that is another project :)

Thanks for all the help so far! I'm learning a lot and love all the great ideas!

K, I applaud your intention to remove buckthorn and other junk. I would suggest that that battle alone might just be enough to keep you occupied for a while. What's more, any "good" plants which remain will have a growth response themselves once the over-shading junk is gone. Just something to think about. In other words, it's not a certain number of plants you need but a certain amount of "plant". If the remaining junipers were to grow and fill in more of that space, which I'm saying they will, you might not need much more in the way of individual additional plants.

+oM

Thanks Wisconsitom, I hadn't thought about that!

So maybe it makes more sense to clear it out this year and leave it alone to see how it behaves over the next year or two. Although I'm not sure I want to be that friendly with the neighbors :) LOL
The Buckthorn itself is so bad we actually have several Buckthorn TREES, like 15'+ tall, 12"+ in diameter trunks and several that have "bushed". The neighbor to the West of us uses them as a hedge on the border of our properties so I'm sure it will be a constant battle. At least until that hedge mysteriously disappears one dark night ;)

Seriously though I hadn't even thought to leave it for awhile to let the good stuff grow. I was so bent on having a living border/screen. Thanks for the insight!

Ken, I took a few more pics. We actually have tonnes of these bushes that seem to be the same as the hedge. These have been sculpted though. I thought maybe seeing the branch structure might further help to identify. This is a picture of one of the sculpted ones.

This is a view from the rear. The hedges are just like this only thicker as I think they are older. Hope this helps :)

Sorry, I don't think the pic I took of the cones, like Pineresin's posted. Trying again.

Male (pollen) cones in the last pic.

The shrubs look like Juniperus ÃÂ pfitzeriana.

Resin

oh my ... lol...

lollipop trees .. i just puked all over my keyboard .. lol ..

burning bush.. ALL HAVE TO GO ... see link .. BTW.. learn latin for names .. this one is: Burning bush (Euonymus alata) .. latin is how we all know we are talking about the same plant ... it WILL matter in the long run ...

buckthorn is on the list also ... under these two names:

Glossy buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula)
Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)

no clue which you are talking about ... but when it leafs out.. and gets seed pods.. it can be ID'd here ... with a pic ...

i am impressed that you are willing to wait and observe.. while removing some things.. brilliant!! ... but it also gives you time to keep an eye out .. around town .... to snap pics of what strikes your fancy ... and a great way to start.. is any of the wonderful botanical garden in the Chi-town area ... [i swear i read that.. but i cant find it now???]

understand that most flowering shrubs [since i mentioned diversity and lilac] have a limited 'show' season.. and are rather blase' the rest of the year .. by picking and choosing many different plants .... plants that bloom at different times ... you can have a month or 6 weeks of blooming from your shrubs ..

conifers tend to be year around interest .. and if you hang out in this forum long enough .. you will end up with a hundred of them.. lol ...

we need a picture of the needles and a cone ... branch structure on very old junipers is not that definitive .. and i would bet the ones on the lot line probably date to the house building...

what is imperative to plant.. this spring.. is shade trees ... i planted 6 to 8 foot bare root oaks in 2000 .. and 10 years later.. they are 30+ feet tall ... do NOT wait on such ... and take that question over to the tree forum ... besides my conifers.. i have 1500 hosta.. i garden in shade.. and there are a significant number of trees that you do NOT plant.. if you wish to garden under them.. namely maple in my book ... so i suggest you work out a plan.. for APRIL planting time in your area.. for a few GOOD!!! shade trees.. in the 6 to 10 foot size ... [look at redbud also] .... lol broke my own rule cercis canandensis [though the spelling may vary.. lol]

gotta run..

ken

ps: that pic of mine.. 10 years from planting little one foot conifers.. to what you see ...

pps: conifers are NOT shrubs ... so dont let me confuse you.. by seeming to use the words interchangeably ...

ppps: you did not attach a pic like resins ...???

pppps: .. lol.. go to this place if you are interested in RARE conifers.. great day trip.. call in advance:

http://www.richsfoxwillowpines.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks Pineresin! Wisconsitom was right, they are Pfitzers - Juniperus ÃÂ pfitzeriana to be exact. Thanks so much to everyone for helping me to identify these guys. I'm keeping a "log" of what we identify and where it is and I've added this to the log.

Ken - I'm right there with ya on the Lollipops. I hate them! I was tempted to take the chain saw to them when we first moved in but I'm really trying to give things time and learn about the property before I go and do something I'll regret later.

Based on the pics of Rhamnus cathartica and Rhamnus frangula, our Buckthorns are Rhamnus cathartica. I would recognize those things anywhere...

Thanks for the link but I'm afraid it was more bad news than good. It seems the previous owners lived by the rule of thumb that invasives are awesome! The previous owners were here for about 50 years so everything is well established. We have a LOT of Burning Bush (Euonymus alata), Tree of Heaven, Locust trees (will have to identify further once they leaf) and of course the buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). We also have some Mulberry (not sure which species) and I noticed that White Mulberry is also on the invasive list. Ah well, I guess I'll get a crash course :) I think I better head over to the Tree forum (is there one?) to sort out if I should cut down the Tree of Heavens and Locusts or leave them be. Are there any links/lists to tell me what I should plant? :) LOL

I think there are some good plantings on property but I will have to research more and "watch" them this year to see when they leaf, bloom and how they behave. We have quite a few Ilex x "Merry Berry", Roseum Elegnas Rhododendron and a 35' row of Viburnum opulus 'Sterile'.

Thanks to your help, my new plan is to get the buckthorn and other invasives along that East border eradicated and let the native/good stuff grow for a year before we plant in anything else. I'm also going to look into some Oak trees for shade and try to sort out the best location for those.

Again, thank you for all the help, suggestions and guidance! This is really my first "post" and I learned so much :)