Creeping Juniper

Creeping juniper is the North American native groundcover conifer, low, flat, and spreading, forming dense mats of scale-like foliage that hug the ground at six to twelve inches tall. The foliage ranges from blue-green to steel blue to plum-purple in winter depending on the cultivar. Native from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and south to New York and Montana, it grows wild on rocky outcrops, sand dunes, and gravelly shores across the northern half of the continent.

In Western Washington, creeping juniper is one of the most reliable evergreen groundcovers for full sun and well-drained soil. It handles heat, drought, poor soil, and slopes with the toughness you expect from a plant that grows on exposed rock in the wild. 'Bar Harbor' turns plum-purple in winter. 'Wiltonii' (Blue Rug) is one of the flattest and bluest selections. 'Prince of Wales' stays bright green year-round. Several diseases are tracked, including juniper tip blight during wet springs. Good air circulation and full sun are the best defenses. For a weed-suppressing, erosion-controlling, zero-irrigation groundcover on sunny, well-drained sites, creeping juniper has been doing the job for decades.