They do great in San Antonio. I have a couple in the ground and a couple in pots for accents. They stay nice and full year round with no problems.

Happy Gardening!

I've seen plenty growing around the Dallas area. You shouldn't have any problem with them. They do make a nice screening plant.

They make a nice Christmas tree too! I got mine last November and it's in a large pot. I would say that it has grown from just over 5 feet to over 6 feet already and I have it in the shade. It would probably have grown even faster in the ground. Oh, yeah, I'm just south of Fort Worth.

Pam

Thanks everyone! I'm going to go with some small ones, since they're cheaper and just have patience, LOL. My husband loves the look of evergreens and we don't have a single evergreen plant anywhere, so this will be my gift to him.

How big around do they get?

On mine, at 6 feet tall, the base or thickest part of the tree near the bottom is 3 feet diameter. I did some research, let me find that.

It appears that the planting distance is 6 to 8 feet, which is about 1/2 of the height.

Pam

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to info

I do not have one of these, but I read that they do not like wet feet - might want to wait until the rain subsides to plant them.

I have two, one on each side of my front door. They're about 5 ft in diameter and maybe 8 feet tall. Unfortunately they're dying, and we're going to have to remove them. I planted them as 3' plants 8 yrs ago. They're in a raised bed, so I don't think they have a drainage problem, unless the roots are finally getting down into the native clay, and they don't like it.
And they're closely surrounded by shrubs, roses and perennials, so maybe they don't like that. I had a tree guy out 5 yrs ago to look at some other trees, and as we walked by the blue points, he remarked that they looked fine, their color was good. I wasn't smart enough to ask him what sort of potential problem he was referring to. These trees have turned brown at the top, down through the center, and I've pruned it out a couple times, leaving good color around the base and outside, but now it's gone too far for that to help. I'm going to replace them with foster hollies.

Carol

The sickly blue point juniper on the right side of the house

Another view

The one on the left, which had the middle cut out of it last year. It has always been much larger.

I'm so sorry your trees seem to be dying.

BTW, the blue point junipers I have and have seen around here are a more compact shape and more greyish in color, but it's hard to always tell color from a picture.

I'll try to take a picture of them tomorrow.

I tore all ours out due to bagworms and replaced them with Foster hollies.

Now I'm re-thinking them. I've been noticing some around here that seem to have the same problem--big brown areas. Even when the brown is pruned out, they slowly get worse.

Back to the drawing board. Foster hollies are something I've been interested in...

All junipers are susceptible to bag worms, spider mites, cedar apple rust, and blight, not to mention root rot. In spite of that, they can be pretty, and Blue points have the added bonus of staying relatively small for a juniper. They're supposed to reach around 8' tall and 5' wide. I think all this rain we've had has been hard on them.

If you like them and have good contitions for them, which would be exposure to at least 6 hours of sun a day and very well drained soil, I'd plant one or 2 as part of your screen, but I would not recommend using only blue point junipers for an entire screen - unless your screen needs to only be 1 tree wide.

Sally

Has anyone tip pruned a Blue Point? I'm getting ready to decorate mine for Christmas and it could use a bit of shaping near the top. I just want to know where on the limb to trim so that I don't leave a brown stub ;-)

Pam

I have some sort of Juniper next to my front door and at the corner of the house. They must be near 20 years old about the same age as the house. I was about to have them removed they are so huge and planted to close to the house. The backside has to be shaved to the trunk to squeeze behind it and has started declining. I pruned the one at the corner and it looks horrible. No green growth ever came back. Its sad. I decided to wait til after Christmas to remove them and decorated the one by the front door as a Christmas tree since I don't have room in my living room for one as a final going away present to this huge tree. I like the look of an evergreen where they are but need something more column shaped.

F4F,
That's why I asked, conifers are really different to prune. Mine is still short enough at 6 feet to keep in a pot, but the shape at the top could really be more conical. I googled and all I came up with was to not trim out branches to the trunk and that they rarely need a trim. I'm thinking of just going at the tips with sterilized scissors. It's just a bit lopsided.

Pam

I need to do the same to mine to put something on top of the tree like a star but I have to find the something first, lol. Good luck with your pruning.

They're great trees if you have the right conditions, but they ARE picky and you've got to watch them for pests. Plus, there's a lot of different varieties, so be careful about what it says their growth habit is on the tag!

Let's see, other good hedges/screens ... There are the ever-popular crepe myrtles, which when they get tall and tree-like combine well with other flowering shrubs ... rosebushes, though they have their own issues ... red-tip photinia ... You could also put up a fence and grow wisteria for privacy.

What's your planting area like?

Pam, you might do a search for Christmas tree farms and ask them how they prune them to get the shape. Someone told me once, but I forget what they said, since I don't have any.

PPB,
Great idea, thanks!

Pam

Here is my huge tree. You can't even see the front door.

{{gwi:585354}}

I've noticed this week that two other neightbors on my street have blue points that are doing the same thing mine did - turning brown in the middle. Maybe they don't like our neightborhood !?!

That tree is beautiful f4f!

msmisk,
In my search to find pruning tips, there was a bit of discussion on insect pests causing brown areas. If your branches go to the ground, you might try limbing them up so that it's harder for grass to grow beneath then that you cannot pull out (suggestion was that pests get into the tree from below). Apparently aphids and spider mites really love these trees.

Love these comments on Junipers! I have two (not sure what type, dark green w/cone pointed top), approx 19 years old from original home owner plant. They are nice and evergreen, but one has had bagworm problems twice. Knowing nothing about them & reason it started turning brown at the top and partial center, I sought neighbors advise. I learned that the brown dead branches can be cut-out/pruned, remove bagworms on remaining branches, then pull remaining parts together w/rubber band or whatever, and it will regrow back to a full healthy juniper in 2-3 years or so with a little watering/fertilizing ever now & then! I didn't really expect this would work, but reasoned what did I have to lose, was considering cutting the eyesore down anyway! I was shocked when it recovered/started regrowing /was able to remove bands!! These scrubs are very drought tolerant/durable in my hot Texas area, and I even transplanted one several years ago. Have had no problem pruning them, which seems to stimulate growth, if I didn't prune them they would get enormous!! So don't believe everything you read about there's No Hope, when they start turning brown from bag worms or whatever!!

I still have ours. It's in ground now and in too shady of a spot but it's still healthy. It filled out in width and has gained about a foot in height. I still love it! It's had a few bagworms that I was able to trim off.

Very Nice pictures, enjoyed your story, Boy you got alot of Junipers, good idea on reshaping them......Thanks!