Cossack juniper

Synonyms: Sabina officinalis Garcke, Sabina vulgaris var. Yulinensis, можжевельник казачий

Можжевельник казацкий (Juniperus sabina L.) – a species of the genus Juniperus (Juniperus) in the family Cupressaceae (Cupressaceae). It was first described in 1573 by Carl Linnaeus in his "Species Plantarum, Tomus II." In cultivation since 1584.

In nature it grows in Africa (Algeria), Asia (Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia), the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia), Russia (Chechen-Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Chita to Gorny Altai, Amur Region, Primorye, Volgograd), China (Gansu, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang), and in Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, France, Spain). It grows in forests and groves, on rocky mountain slopes and sandy dunes. It ascends into the mountains to 1000—2300 m above sea level.

It is a prostrate dioecious, less often monoecious, evergreen coniferous shrub 1–1.5 m in height and 5–7 m in diameter, less often low trees up to 4 m with a curved trunk. Annual growth 57 cm. The shrub spreads fairly quickly, forming dense mats. Bark peeling, reddish-brown in color. Shoots are prostrate or partly ascending, rooting, thin, not wider than 1 mm.

The foliage has a sharp and fairly strong scent. On young plants and less often on lower sterile shoots of older plants the leaves are awl-shaped, arranged in pairs, appressed to the shoots, 0.3-0.6 cm long, acute at the tip but not prickly, soft, gray-green or glaucous in color. On adult plants the foliage is mostly scale-like, opposite in pairs in 4 rows, fairly tightly appressed to the shoots, ovate or lanceolate-rhombic in shape, blunt or pointed, dark green or gray-green, with a keel and an oval gland on the back.

Male cones 2- mm in length, they shed pollen in early spring.

Seed cones are borne on short shoots, pendent, solitary, 0,5-0, cm long, brown-black or black-blue in color, covered with a dense bluish-white waxy bloom. Scales 4–6, each bearing 1–3 seeds, which mature in autumn or the following spring. Fruiting in June–July.

Shoots are poisonous.

Hybrids:

• with Juniperus chinensis L. – Juniperus × media Melle
• with Juniperus chinensis L. – Juniperus × pfitzeriana (Späth) P. A. Schmidt
• with Juniperus semiglobosa Regel – Juniperus × talassica Lipsky

Varieties:

• Juniperus sabina var. arenaria (E.H.Wilson) (Juniperus chinensis L. var. arenaria E.H.Wilson, Juniperus arenaria (E.H.Wilson) Florin)
• Juniperus sabina var. davurica (Pall.). (Juniperus davurica Pall., uniperus foetida Spach var. davurica (Pall.) Spach, Sabina davurica (Pall.) Antoine, Juniperus davurica Pall. subsp. maritima Urussov)
• Juniperus sabina var. sabina (Juniperus lusitanica Mill., Juniperus sabina var. cupressifolia Aiton, Juniperus sabina var. tamariscifolia Aiton, Juniperus humilis Salisb., Juniperus foetida Spach, Juniperus foetida Spach var. multicaulis Spach, Juniperus foetida Spach var. sabina (L.) Spach, Juniperus sabina var. vulgaris Endl., Sabina vulgaris Antoine, Sabina vulgaris Antoine var. arborescens Antoine, Sabina officinalis Garcke, Juniperus × kanitzii Csató, Sabina alpestris Jord.)
• Juniperus sabina var. yulinensis T.C.Chang et C.G.Chen
• Juniperus sabina var. monosperma C.Y.Yang
• Juniperus sabina var. yulinensis (T.C.Chang et C.G.Chen) Y.F.Yu et L.K.Fu

Cultivars: Arcaida, Blue danube, Broadmoor, Buffalo, Cupressifolia, Erecta, Fastigiata, Femina, Hicksii, Jade, Mas, Nana, Rockery Gem, Scandia, Tamariscifolia, Tamariscifolia new Blue, Variegata.

Hardiness: 3-9 (-34°C)

Site: drought-tolerant, sun-loving, practically undemanding to soil, resistant to smoke and air pollution.

Planting: recommended spacing between plants 0.5 or 1.2–2 m. Planting depth – 70 cm. Drainage if necessary: crushed brick or sand, layer 15–20 cm. Soil mixture: topsoil, peat and sand in the ratio 1:2:1. Transplants poorly even with a root ball.

Care: apply nitroammophoska (complete fertilizer) in spring in April–May at 30–40 g/m2. In a dry summer it is recommended to water the plant 2–3 times per season and perform evening spraying once a week. Mulch with peat or sawdust in a layer of 5–8 cm.

Pruning: tolerates heavy pruning and trimming well, retains shape for a long time.

Diseases: rust (Arcerid (50 g per 10 L of water) spray 4 times at 10-day intervals), shütte, biatorrellal and nectriaceous canker, alternariosis, pear rust fungus.

Pests: aphids (Fitoverm (2 g per 1 L of water) spray 2 times at 10–14 day intervals), leaf-miner moth (Decis (2.5 g per 10 L) spray 2 times at 10–14 day intervals), spider mite (Karate (50 g per 10 L)), scale insects (carbophos (70 g per 10 L of water)), galls, sawfly, shoot moth, pine looper.

Propagation: propagated by seed and cuttings. Winter cuttings root 65% without treatment. Easily propagated by summer and winter cuttings and by layering. Seeds require stratification.

Uses: used as a groundcover and soil-protective plant, for creating borders, covering slopes and rocks, in rock gardens and home gardens. Can be grown in bonsai style.