'Blue Heaven' Juniper is a needled-evergreen tree, a cultivar of J. scopulorum . Its vertical habit makes it a great selection for a small garden area or for placing several in a row to serve as a screen or sound barrier. Cone production is heavy. 'Blue Heaven' is best grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. It prefers dry, sandy soils with good drainage, but will tolerate a wide range of soil types as long as they are not wet. This cultivar's parent tree is a native of western North America and can be found growing in dry, rocky foothills at higher elevations; like its parent, 'Blue Heaven' is generally intolerant of the hot and humid growing conditions of the deep South. 'Blue Heaven' is typically grown for its beautiful silver-blue foliage. Its ability to tolerate poor soil, heat, and drought make it a go-to selection. Its vertical habit makes it a great selection for a small garden area or for placing several in a row to serve as a screen or sound barrier. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Wear gloves when handling to avoid skin irritation. Junipers are susceptible to blights and root rot, particularly under wet conditions. Phomopsis twig blight is of particular concern. Rust diseases spend part of their life cycle on junipers. Occasional insect pests include aphids, bagworms, twig borers, webworms and scale. Watch for spider mites. The Clemson Cooperative Extension Home and Garden Information Center has a factsheet on common juniper diseases and insect pests. More information on Juniperus scopulorum .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Fills a similar nicheJuniperus communis var. depressaJuniperus horizontalis 'Limeglow'Juniperus horizontalis 'Plumosa'
Full plant profile
Growing Conditions
Plant type
Shrub; Tree
Life cycle
Woody
USDA zones
5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
Light
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Shallow Rocky
Soil pH
Alkaline (>8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage
Available space
6-feet-12 feet; 12-24 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 10 ft. 0 in. - 20 ft. 0 in. | Width: 5 ft. 0 in. - 10 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
2 - Understory (15-40 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Ascending; Columnar; Conical; Erect; Pyramidal
Foliage
Needled Evergreen
Leaf color
Blue; Green
Leaf type
Needles
Leaf arrangement
Opposite; Whorled
Leaf value
Showy
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Silver-blue, evergreen foliage arranged in opposite decussate pairs, or occasionally in whorls of three; the adult leaves are scale-like while the juvenile leaves (on young seedlings only) are needle-like.
Flower detail
Conifers do not have flowers.
Fruit color
Blue
Fruit detail
Heavy cone production. The seed cones are berry-like, dark blue with a pale blue-white waxy bloom, and contain two seeds that mature in about 18 months. The pollen cones shed their pollen in early spring
Bark color
Dark Brown
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Play value
Colorful; Screening; Sound; Textural; Wind Break
Landscape Use
Landscape location
Slope/Bank; Vertical Spaces
Design feature
Accent; Barrier; Border; Hedge; Mass Planting; Screen/Privacy; Specimen