Columnar junipers

* Common name: Columnar juniper

* Botanical name: Juniperus chinensis, scopulorum, or virginiana

* What it is: Gardeners often need skinny, upright evergreens for those tight spots in the yard where they’re looking for privacy or definition. Examples are along property lines in small yards, narrow beds hemmed in by walks or driveways, and standing sentinel by gates or doors.

The ideal answer in sunny spots is columnar junipers – needled evergreens that can grow 15 to 20 feet tall (or more) while staying only three to four feet wide. These give the look of tall, skinny Italian cypresses but in plants that are cold-hardy in Pennsylvania’s climate.

Bonus: junipers are hardly ever bothered by deer.

Three good columnar examples:

Juniper ‘Trautman’ is a Chinese juniper with bluish-gray-green foliage, ample silvery-blue berries in winter, and good blight-resistance.

‘Blue Arrow’ is a variety of native Rocky Mountain juniper with a dense habit and blue-green foliage. It also produces silvery-blue berries in winter and is an improvement over the older version of this species, ‘Skyrocket.’

‘Taylor’ is a variety of native Eastern red cedar with blue-green foliage that’s a bit softer than the previous two. It has silvery-blue foliage that turns somewhat bronze in winter and has few, if any, fruits. The main drawback of Eastern red cedars is susceptibility to cedar-apple rust disease.

All three are very drought-resistant once established.

* Size: ‘Trautman’ is a medium-speed grower, reaching about 15 feet tall and three to four feet wide in 15 years. ‘Blue Arrow’ is a fast grower (up to 18 inches a year), reaching 15 feet tall and three feet wide in 10 years. ‘Taylor’ is also fast-growing, reaching 15 to 20 feet tall and three to four feet wide in 15 years.

* Where to use: Junipers do best in full-sun locations with good drainage. Avoid wet areas. Columnar types are especially suited to narrow areas.

Avoid using junipers (especially Eastern red cedar types) near apple, crabapple, and hawthorn trees because those trade fungal rust diseases back and forth.

* Care: Keep plants damp the first season or so, then junipers should never need supplemental water or fertilizer.

Columnar types seldom need pruning, although you can maximize their denseness with a light shearing at the end of each winter. Height also can be controlled by snipping the tops and lightly shearing to maintain the narrow, conical habit.

Never prune heavily because junipers don’t regenerate well if you cut back into the  needleless inner part of branches, typically six to 12 inches in from the tips.

* Great partner: Sun-loving blue-, pink-, or purple-blooming perennials match junipers’ bluish foliage, such as catmint, leadwort, purple coneflowers, creeping veronica, and salvia. Good sun-loving annual-flower partners include ageratum, blue salvia, angelonia, dusty miller, pink or purple petunias, or pink geraniums, verbena, or vinca.