Once you've planted juniper, you won't want to be without this shapely tree. You do not necessarily have to buy new plants, but can propagate the wood yourself using various methods.
Juniper cuttings are rooted in soil
Propagation methods of juniper:
- seed
- cuttings
- offshoot
seed
The fruits are initially green and take two years to ripen. The berries turn blue-black and can be harvested for seed in late summer or fall. Before you free the seeds from the pulp, you should dry the fruit for a few months.
Mash the berries and clean the seeds so that no pulp residue sticks. The seeds need to be watered for several days. Alternatively, you can pour hot water over the seeds at around 60 degrees and then let them soak for two hours. These measures increase germination. The seeds are then placed in a freezer bag filled with sand and stored in the refrigerator for three months.
How to sow:
- Fill the planter with compost
- Scatter seeds on the substrate in autumn
- Cover grains with sand and keep evenly moist
- watch out for temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius
cuttings
In late summer you can use young and already lignified shoots for the propagation of cuttings. For this purpose, side shoots are preferably used, which are torn off abruptly from the main shoot. This creates a tongue of bark, which is then cut off with a sharp knife. With this method, the branch remains on the cutting. This has a large dividing tissue and reliably forms new roots.
Shorten the cutting to 15 centimeters and remove the needles in the lower third and the shoot tip. You can score the bottom to improve water absorption. Put the crackling in loose soil with a high sand content and place the container in a warm place with a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.
offshoot
Some species such as the creeping juniper form offshoots that can be separated from the mother plant and planted. This method is the simplest form of propagation, but it does not work for all juniper species. In this way you breed an identical specimen of the mother plant with the same characteristics. This propagation strategy makes sense, especially for varieties.