Juniperus taxifolia Lutchuensis

This Ryukyu Island juniper grows outward rather than upward, spreading low and wide and draping willingly over an edge once it reaches one. The foliage is what marks it out among the junipers: fine, fresh green needles that look and feel softer than the sharply prickly shore junipers, in flat layered sprays. It is a plant for dry banks, rock terraces, gravel gardens and the top of a retaining wall, anywhere a tough evergreen mat has to hold ground that would be awkward to mow or plant conventionally.

A dry bank suits it better than a garden bed

Full sun, poor gravelly soil and coastal exposure are what it wants, and rich, damp, heavily composted beds are what it does not. Growth is slow to moderate, so set plants closer than you would for a fast groundcover, roughly 600mm to 800mm apart, and expect a couple of seasons before the layers overlap into cover. Plant it raised on heavy ground, mulch with grit or coarse bark rather than a soft blanket of compost packed against the stems, and water sparingly once it has taken. Watch for spider mite in hot still positions, where the foliage goes dull and dusty before it browns. It also works spilling out of a large pot or over the lip of a raised bed, where the layered growth shows to advantage.

The one real failure mode is over-clipping. Junipers do not reshoot from bare brown wood, so a plant that is sheared back hard after being left to run is left with a bald patch that never fills. Trim little and often into green growth from the start, or let it sprawl and cut whole stems out at the base where you need to reduce it.

Softer texture than the shore junipers

The comparison to make is with Shore Juniper - Juniperus conferta. Conferta is denser, tougher underfoot and genuinely prickly, which makes it the better weed suppressant across a big sandy bank but an unpleasant thing to weed by hand. This juniper is the softer, finer, more refined option for a spot people brush past, a courtyard wall edge or a rockery seen close up. If you want colour rather than texture in the same low spreading habit, Shore Juniper - Juniperus conferta All Gold carries gold new growth, though it needs strong light to hold it. More in low maintenance.

Light trimming, light feeding

Trim in spring as growth starts, and again lightly in early autumn if the edges have outrun their space, taking only green shoot tips. Cutting whole stems back to a junction inside the plant is better than shearing the surface, because it keeps the layered look instead of creating a flat clipped face. Feed once a year in early spring with a light application of slow-release fertiliser; heavy feeding produces soft floppy growth that opens the centre of the plant. Keep mulch pulled back off the stems where they meet the soil.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 3 sizes, from 140mm up to 200mm, priced from $18.95 to $29.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to low water gardens.