Flaky Juniper 'Blue Carpet'

Flaky Juniper 'Blue Carpet' (Juniperus squamata 'Blue Carpet') is a blue carpet in the most literal sense. The shoots spread flat across the ground in a dense layer of silvery-blue needles that hides the soil completely, while the flaking brown bark adds texture to the planting.

It stands only 0.1-0.5 m tall yet spreads 1.5-2.5 m wide, so it is used to cover slopes, retaining walls and hot sunny spots where other plants scorch. Unlike the bun-shaped 'Blue Star', 'Blue Carpet' travels outwards rather than upwards. One condition matters most: sharp drainage, as it never forgives standing water.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: The silvery-blue foliage deepens to blue-green in winter, so the carpet shifts its shade with the seasons.
• Dimensions: Height 0.1-0.5 m, spread 1.5-2.5 m - filling out over 10-20 years.
• Hardiness: It withstands frosts down to -34 °C (USDA zone 4).
• Light: It grows in sun or partial shade, but forms its dense blue carpet in an open sunny spot.
• Soil: It accepts chalk, clay, loam and sand of any pH, so long as the soil drains well. The one thing it dislikes is waterlogging.
• Watering: Watering is medium, and once established the plant is drought-tolerant, living happily even on dry stony soils.
• Care: No pruning is needed - it keeps its shape itself; if you wish, hold the height back over the years by lightly shortening the shoots.
• Landscape use: An ideal ground cover for slopes and rockeries: it holds soil against erosion and loves hot sunny spots.
• Origin: The cultivar arose as a mutation of Juniperus squamata 'Meyeri' and holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit.