Nursery and Landscape Performance of Ornamental Junipers in the Southern Rocky Mountains

Abstract

Supplying landscape plants for expanding urban centers in the southern Rocky Mountains provides a solution to limited-resource producers wishing to convert from traditional agricultural crops to higher value horticultural crops in this region. Thirty-five cultivars of ornamental junipers (Juniperus sp.) were planted in an abandoned agricultural field in Mora, N.M., to evaluate their suitability for nursery production in this region. The plantings were measured after 4 years, and cultivars were ranked for nursery suitability. The planting was then grown for an additional 16 years to examine landscape performance. Nineteen cultivars were considered suitable for nursery production with five cultivars being highly recommended based on survival and growth. Twenty-five of the cultivars were considered suitable for landscape use in the foothill region of the southern Rocky Mountains based on the 20-year measurements. Nine cultivars were classified as highly recommended. Production of ornamental junipers provides an economical alternative to traditional agricultural production systems.