Juniperus horizontalis ‘Bar Harbor’

Creeping juniper

Creeping juniper is native to northern North America. Their low, dense habit makes them popular for landscaping ground cover, and many cultivars are available. The ‘Bar Harbor’ cultivar, named for the town adjacent to Acadia National Park, is a male cultivar with blue-gray foliage that is relatively fast-growing.

Plants: Shrubs are 4–12″ (10–30 cm) tall, keeping a low profile against cold weather and spreading horizontally to form dense mats up to 6′ (1.8 m) around. Branches are ~1/32″ (0.7–1.2 mm) around.

Leaves: The evergreen leaves aren’t like the flattened needles of hemlocks or the thin, circularly cross-sectioned needles of pines. They somewhat resemble millipedes, with circular cross sections and overlapping, tightly interlocked scales. The leaflets occur in opposite pairs and threes and are branched into Y or X shapes. Leaflets are 1/32–¼″ long ⨉ ~1/32″ in diameter (1–8 ⨉ 1–1.5 mm)]. The foliage is dense, green to blue-green during the growing season, and bronzy brown to reddish purple in the winter. The low habit and these other adaptations help cope with wind and low temperatures.

Fruits: Cones can be mistaken for berries, being roughly globose in shape and dark blue in color. A pale bluish waxy sheen on the cones lightens their color. Female cones are ⅛–¼″ (5–7 mm) in diameter. Male cones are 1/16–⅛″ (2–4 mm) long, with a cluster of yellow ”stamens” up to ⅛″ (5 mm) long. Each plant produces only male or female cones (”dioecious”).

Habitats: These junipers occupy rocky or sandy soils including rock outcroppings, stony slopes, coastal cliffs, prairies, sand dunes and stream banks. This ”cultivar” is often planted on slopes to control erosion.

Online References:

Juniperus horizontalis ‘Bar Harbor’ description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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