Upright Junipers: Market Opportunity
Have you ever wondered why the upright juniper market has remained strong while the arborvitae market, like Emeralds and Green Giants, has experienced massive fluctuations?
Popular Varieties of Upright Juniper
At Standard Nursery, our most popular varieties Taylor, Medora, Woodward, Moonglow, Wichita Blue, Blue Arrow, Skyrocket, Spartan, and Blue Point. The majority have to be grafted because their natural root systems are not as strong as some of the understock varieties. The most popular understock varieties are Hetz, Virginiana, and Skyrocket. Some have had success using Blue Arrow as a rootstock for scopulorum varieties as opposed to Skyrocket. It seems to perform very well.
The chinensis varieties like Spartan and Blue Point have strong enough root systems that they can be propagated by rooting cuttings from the mother plants. The hottest variety for the last few years has been Juniperus v. Taylor, a virginiana cultivar that is known for it’s super slender habit and strong upright growth. They’ve been known to put on +2’ of growth in a single year and can be used tough climates to provide an Italian Cypress effect in landscape designs.
Barrier to Entry
There are two main reasons why we see Juniper supply is continually outpaced by demand. Junipers are just a little slower growing than an arborvitae. We typically expect ours to be about a foot shorter by container size so a #10 would be 4-5’ tall while an Emerald or Green Giant is expected to be 5-6’ tall. The other reason is the grafting.
Grafting requires a good source of understock, it’s a special skill, and it takes additional time. Certain growers have dedicated years to unlocking the proper schedule for grafting to shorten production time of suitable liners. This is a huge advantage to other growers who can shortcut their own production time by bringing in the finished liners. This spares them from training grafters, supplying understock, and all the time and effort that goes into the process. The time and investment required to graft junipers presents a strong barrier to entry for inexperienced propagators who might be interested in broadening their range beyond Blue Point, Spartans or Skyrockets.
What’s the Difference?
There are several options for junipers that make good substitutions for one another. This helps growers to supply demand shortages without there being a glut across the board. Examples might be Skyrocket for Blue Arrow, Medora for Taylor, and Moonglow for Wichita Blue. They are good substitutions for one another but do not sub well across categories. A Skyrocket cannot really eat into the Wichita Blue market and Moonglow would not make a good sub for Taylor juniper.
As a new grower, the old school varieties of Spartan, Blue Point, Skyrocket, and Blue Arrow are a great place to start. They do not require grafting and experience plenty of demand in the marketplace. As you experience success, it may be time to start practicing grafting or bringing in grafted liners to broaden the line. Moving into Wichita Blue or Moonglow are great and Taylor Juniper tends to be a little expensive on the liner side but has strong demand as finished products.
What’s Eating You?
One other barrier to entry for upright junipers vs arborvitae is their water requirements, or perhaps their water tolerance is a better way to phrase it. Junipers are natives to dryer climates. They do not require much water so growing them in the wet Western Oregon climate can present its own challenge. Waterborne IPM issues like phytophthora can be particularly dangerous to a crop of upright junipers. Even the most conservative growers will find it difficult to resist overwatering upright junipers. They do require water to put on a healthy amount of growth but prefer minimal watering.
Upright junipers are also susceptible to several forms of tip blight. If you’re treating for phytophthora and applying fungicides properly to prevent infection, that will help prevent tip blight as well. Overall, prevention is the best cure so experienced growers follow best sanitization processes as laid out by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
Beyond that, they do tend to attract spider mites, common with arborvitae and Dwarf Alberta spruce. Spider mites are tiny and hard to spot until they’ve started doing damage. You’ll notice the damage typically presents as a greying of the foliage. They can be spotted by shaking the foliage over a white piece of paper. You can just make out the little mites as dots walking around on the sheet. There is some disagreement over whether it’s best to do preventative pesticide applications or introduce beneficial insects to eat the little mites. I have found a hybrid approach works best as the beneficials can keep the population down but there’s often a little spraying still necessary.
What’s the Forecast?
For upright junipers, the forecast is very sunny. The main bottleneck in sales is the lack of available inventory because of the issues we’ve discussed. If you think of upright junipers from a practical standpoint, they are used for both ornamental and structural applications, similar to arborvitae or Chamaecyparis. They are continuously in demand for jobs, primarily from the 6-8’ range, but they sell very well in retail in smaller sizes. Growers love the smaller sizes to meet market demand as well. Because of their structural characteristics, they make excellent screening plants and so I believe the roof for the market is really the same as the arborvitae market.
If you’re a nursery wanting to get into upright junipers, the main thing to understand is your customer demand and then plot the right production plan to fill the need. In field production or making larger containers like #10-#15, you can shortcut the timeline by bringing in liners to shift and this can be a great way to take advantage of other growers who specialize in grafting. If you are a rewholesaler, it might be worth contr
act growing some larger items to hit that 6-8’ range and give yourself a reliable supply. If you’re concerned about the IPM risks, I’d strongly recommend just consulting with your chemical supplier to see what they recommend and asking industry pros who you trust for their advice.
As a broker who buys a lot of upright junipers, I can say that the market is ready for more growers to take the leap. We are always looking for more availability and would be happy to help you get started.
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