{"product_id":"grey-owl-juniper-juniperus-virginiana-grey-owl","title":"Grey Owl Juniper - Juniperus virginiana Grey Owl","description":"\u003cp\u003eGrey Owl is a juniper that goes sideways. Instead of a column or a cone it throws out long, arching branches at a low angle, layered one over another and clothed in fine, feathery foliage of soft silvery grey, so a mature plant reads as a broad, loose mound noticeably wider than it is tall. That colour is the reason to buy it. Next to dark green hedging, bronze foliage or plain timber and stone it lightens a planting at once; it stays a cool grey for most of the year, perhaps with a faint purplish cast in a cold winter, and it does not need a flower to earn its keep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThink of it as low, wide cover rather than a groundcover or a hedge: the face of a bank, the top of a retaining wall where the branches can spill over, the front of a deep border, or the gaps between larger shrubs in a dry garden. It is not flat and mat forming like the shore junipers, and it does not clip into a formal line.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRoom to spread, sun and sharp drainage\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGive it full sun and plenty of width. It is easy to underestimate how far the branches travel, so set plants roughly 1.5 to 2m apart for a continuous drift and keep them well back from paths: otherwise you will be cutting the leading tips off every year, and bare arms that brush through the foliage can come up red and itchy. Shade makes it thin and open in the centre. It is cold hardy and copes with heat, wind, alkaline soils and long dry spells once settled, which suits the inland and tableland gardens of New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA wet root zone in a humid summer is what kills it. On heavy ground, or anywhere a lawn's watering reaches it, the inner branches yellow first and the rot spreads outward; steamy coastal summers do the same to the inside of the plant. Build the bed up or use a slope, spread gravel rather than bark around it with a clear gap at the base, and after the first summer leave it to rainfall except in a drought. Fine webbing under the branches in a hot, airless spot means spider mite; a hard hose from below in summer keeps it down.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGrey Owl beside the other junipers\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/skyrocket-juniper-juniperus-virginiana-skyrocket\"\u003eSkyrocket Juniper\u003c\/a\u003e does the opposite job: a narrow upright spire for vertical accents, where Grey Owl spreads out horizontally. A few Skyrockets rising out of a drift of Grey Owl is a well tried pairing of shape and texture in dry gardens. If you need something that hugs the ground and binds a sandy bank, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/juniperus-conferta\"\u003eShore Juniper\u003c\/a\u003e is lower, greener and built for salt wind and sand. Grey Owl sits between the two, taller than the mat junipers and far softer to the eye than either. Its relatives, from flat coastal mats to tall columns, can be compared in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/conifers\"\u003eConifers and Cypress\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePruning without losing the layers\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeave it alone as far as possible. If a branch has to be shortened, follow it back under the canopy and cut just above a healthy side shoot that is still green, so the cut hides beneath the layer above. Shearing across the top flattens the arching habit into a hard, stubbly dome and is worth avoiding. Like other junipers it will not shoot again from wood that has lost its foliage, so a branch cut back past the green stays bare for good. It needs no fertiliser in ordinary garden soil. For other plants that largely look after themselves once established, see our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/low-maintenance\"\u003eLow Maintenance Plants\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 300mm, at $129.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":67671048061297,"sku":null,"price":129.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/grey-owl-juniper-juniperus-virginiana-grey-owl.jpg?v=1791518147","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/grey-owl-juniper-juniperus-virginiana-grey-owl","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}