Migratory birds, turkeys, and other upland game birds readily consume Rocky Mountain juniper "berries". The "berries" are also eaten by many species of small mammals. Rocky Mountain juniper is sometimes used by sheep and other domestic livestock, but is not a favored foliage plant, and may cause abortion.
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What animal eats junipers?
Juniper berries are one of the top winter foods for many birds and mammals. Rabbits, foxes and most birds – turkeys, bluebirds, robins, chickadees and waxwings to name a few – covet the deep blue berries. I've watched a flock of cedar waxwings descend upon a patch of juniper and strip them in just a few hours.
What eats common juniper?
“Berries” of most junipers are eaten by many species of birds and mammals, including American Robins, Black-capped Chickadees, and Cedar Waxwings. Wild turkeys also feed on the berries of Common Juniper. It also provides cover and nesting sites for birds and small mammals.
What kind of bird eats juniper berries?
Everything from eastern bluebirds and evening grosbeaks to wild turkeys and sharp-tailed grouse devour the fruit. On a frigid day, some birds may gulp down more than 200 of the berries. Plus, the berries add splashes of brilliant blue to backyards during the cold months.
Will deer eat Rocky Mountain juniper?
Other animals that use Rocky Mountain juniper berries, foliage, or stems for forage include white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, Rocky Mountain goats, ring-necked pheasant, grouse, and cattle.
What is killing my junipers?
Cercospora Twig Blight: This disease is caused by the fungus Cercospora sequoiae var. juniperi. It begins by infecting the oldest needles that are located on the lower branches, inside of the plant. As disease development progresses, the needle browning spreads upward and outward.
Do birds eat juniper?
Those juniper berries are also the magnet that attracts birds. Everything from eastern bluebirds and evening grosbeaks to wild turkeys and sharp-tailed grouse devour the fruit. During one frigid day, a single robin or Townsend's solitaire (above) may gulp down more than 200 berries.
Why do hummingbirds like junipers?
Common Juniper Identification and Relationship with Birds The Common Juniper's major source of bird attraction are its waxy, berry-like cones (note they only grow on a pollinated female), which often provide a much-needed source of food, to a great variety of birds in the middle of winter.
Why do robins eat juniper berries?
“The fruity part is what attracts the bird to it,” Bingham said of juniper berries. “The great thing about fruit is it's a really great way to get their seeds spread about. The fruity part lures the animal in,” then the birds eat the fruit and distribute the seeds.
Do juniper trees attract birds?
Value to wildlife Common juniper provides dense cover for nesting birds, such as the goldcrest and firecrest, and, in northern upland areas, the black grouse.
How do you keep deer out of junipers?
Preventing deer damage to your juniper plants You can consider using individual fencing with pound T-posts or rebar. Plastic or polypropylene deer fencing of about 8 feet can also provide adequate protection. Electric fencing is also a popular choice, but you must think about your source of electricity.
Are junipers deer proof?
Juniper is a plant that is known to be deer resistant. Junipers have a strong scent, bitter taste, and sharp needles. Deer tend to ignore plants with these attributes. Junipers make a great screening or privacy plant if you live in an area with deer pressure.
Can you eat Rocky Mountain juniper berries?
The raw berries are edible and sweetest after the fall of their second year. Small quantities of berries are used to flavor stew, meat, and vegetable dishes such as sauerkraut and potato salad. Some tribes cooked, mashed, and dried Rocky Mountain juniper berries into cakes for winter use.
What is killing my Blue Rug juniper?
Common Pests and Plant Diseases Blue rug juniper is not bothered by serious insect or disease problems. However, wet soil can lead to root rot, and in wet springs, the plant can get tip and twig blight, which causes younger needles to turn brown and drop off.
Are juniper branches poisonous?
ANSWER: The University of California - Davis list Juniperus (Junipers) in their Safe and Poisonous Garden Plants list as having a minor toxicity (class 2) for pets and children. This rating means ingestion of these plants may cause minor illnesses such as vomiting or diarrhea.
What bugs do junipers attract?
Junipers also attract a dismaying range of pests, including spider mites, aphids and borers. The mites announce themselves with fine webs among the branches.
What does juniper blight look like?
The ends of branches turn dull green then red or yellow. Small ash-gray to silver lesions dotted with small, black, fruiting bodies (acervuli) are visible at the base of the discolored tissue. Generally, this fungus does not result in extensive branch dieback or tree death, which could indicate a root problem.
What animals eat juniper berries?
It is used to some extent by elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, bighorn sheep, and antelope. Migratory birds, turkeys, and other upland game birds readily consume Rocky Mountain juniper "berries". The "berries" are also eaten by many species of small mammals.
How tall does a Rocky Mountain Juniper grow?
Growth Characteristics: Rocky Mountain juniper can be a shrub or small tree, growing 3 to 30 feet tall. It branches near the ground, and has more of a Christmas tree shape than Utah juniper. Rocky Mountain juniper pollinates April to May, juniper "berries" mature October to December of the second year following pollination.
What is the plant that is used for meat?
American Indians ate the fruits raw or cooked, and used them as flavoring for meat and gin. Fruits and young shoots were boiled for tea; fruits were ground for mush and cakes.
What is a rocky mountain juniper?
The rocky mountain juniper is perfect for xeriscaping, sheltering and feeding wildlife, erosion control or as a windbreak.
How old is a juniper tree?
This ancient tree has been dated to be approximately 1500 years old.
What is the botanical name for Juniperus scopulorum?
Back to Top. “Of the mountain” is the meaning of the botanical name for Juniperus scopulorum. While the Rocky Mountains are no stranger to slow-growing, drought-tolerant, soil adaptable species, what makes the rocky mountain juniper different is that, for one reason or another, the nursery trade has made many cultivars of ...
What color are juniper needles?
The needles on young plants are soft and short but become appressed and scale-like as the tree matures. Another shining feature is the rocky mountain juniper’s berry-like cone.
Do junipers need to be fed?
The rocky mountain juniper does not require feeding.
Do junipers grow slowly?
Junipers are easy to grow and will be a great addition to any landscape if you are willing to invest the time that these trees take to come into their own. They grow slowly, and that it is the first thing that you need to consider.
Can you make a bonsai with a juniper?
To create a bonsai using a rocky mountain juniper, there are many dwarf or miniatur e cultivars available that are perfectly suited for bonsai creations. Juniperus scopulorum ‘Snow Flurries’ is an especially nice, variegated cultivar.
How long do junipers live in fire?
Rocky Mountain junipers typically live for 200–300 years, but specimens over 1,000 years old have been found.
What are juniper berries used for?
Some tribes cooked, mashed, and dried Rocky Mountain juniper berries into cakes for winter use. The berries can also be roasted, ground, and brewed as a coffee substitute. The most well known use of Rocky Mountain juniper berries and other species of juniper is for flavoring gin.
Why do tribes burn sapwood?
Some tribes also burnt or boiled the boughs to disinfect rooms, ward off illness, and repel insects. The wood is prized for fence posts due to its ability to avoid decay for a long time. The tough sapwood has also been used for making bows, spear handles, clubs, and spoons.
Do junipers spread fire?
Therefore, they prefer to germinate in areas with little to no neighboring vegetation to spread fire to them. Fire suppression has enabled Rocky Mountain junipers to spread beyond the sites with rocky or marginal soils to which they were previously relegated.
Do deer graze on trees?
Deer ( Cervidae spp .) and livestock graze the foliage and appear to have favorite trees that they graze more heavily than others. These trees often have a mushroom-shaped growth form with shortened branches up the height of the browse line. The raw berries are edible and sweetest after the fall of their second year.
Can you use juniper berries for coffee?
The berries can also be roasted, ground, and brewed as a coffee substitute. The most well known use of Rocky Mountain juniper berries and other species of juniper is for flavoring gin. The berries are widely used medicinally but may irritate the kidneys with prolonged use.
What is a Rocky Mountain Juniper?
The Rocky Mountain Juniper ( Sabina scopulorum) (Sargent) Rydberg, was previously categorized as ( Juniperus scopulorum ). It’s also known as a cedar tree, juniper bush, Colorado redcedar, or Rocky Mountain cedar.
What are the berries on a juniper tree?
Junipers can be distinguished from other evergreen trees by their scale-like needles, their reddish-brown bark, and by the blue-gray berry-like fruit. The “berries” on Rocky Mountain junipers are actually miniature cones, the scales of which grew together and combined to form a berry-like shape.
How to tell if a juniper is evergreen?
Junipers can be distinguished from other evergreen trees by their scale-like needles, their reddish-brown bark, and by the blue-gray berry-like fruit.
How long does it take for a juniper tree to grow?
A slow-growing tree, a Rocky Mountain juniper can take 40 years or more to reach a height of only 14 feet! However, this greatly depends on how much water the tree receives.
Common names
Rocky Mountain juniper, mountain red cedar, weeping juniper ( Peattie 1950 ), Rocky Mountain redcedar (Adams 1993).
Taxonomic notes
Syn: Sabina scopulorum (Sargent) Rydberg (Adams 1993). Distribution contiguous with and morphology very similar to J. virginiana. J. scopulorum hybridizes with J. virginiana "in zones of contact in the Missouri River basin and with J. horizontalis ( J. × fassettii Boivin; Fassett 1945 ). Relictual hybridization with J.
Description
Dioecious evergreen trees to 14 m tall and 200 cm DBH, single-stemmed (rarely multistemmed), usually with conical to irregular crowns. Bark brown, exfoliating in thin strips, that of small branchlets (5-10 mm diam.) smooth, that of larger branchlets exfoliating in plates.
Distribution and Ecology
Canada, USA and Mexico; British Columbia (Vancouver Is.
Big tree
Diameter 200 cm, height 12 m, crown spread 6 m, located in Cache National Forest, Utah (American Forests 1996). This tree is widely known and has been the champion for many years, but it is in severe decline. The tallest tree I've heard of is 14 m tall and 64 cm dbh, near Cranbrook, BC (email from S. Walp, 2016.11.26).
Oldest
A log (specimen CRE 175) with crossdated inner date 29 BC and outer date AD 1859 was collected in July 1993 by Henri Grissino-Mayer, James Riser, Rex Adams, and Ikuo Furukawa. This indicates that the tree lived for more than 1888 years.
Observations
This species is common throughout most of its range, and in much of the Rocky Mountains is the only juniper (or at least the only one in section Sabina ), which makes identification relatively easy. However, I have not seen any particularly extraordinary stands.
