The Savin Juniper, otherwise known as the Juniperus Sabina is a pretty well known tree plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this tree will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Savin Juniper Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
In order to take proper care of your Savin Juniper you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The Savin Juniper grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
- Light: Keep your Juniperus Sabina in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Savin Juniper in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Savin Juniper will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Savin Juniper belongs to the Cupressaceae family, the genus Juniperus and the species Virginiana, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Juniperus Sabina (ju-NIP-er-us sa-BI-na).
Some of the more popular Cupressaceae plants are Juniperus Procumbens ‘Nana’, White Cedar ‘Danica’, Cupressus Sempervirens, Juniperus Chinensis ‘Hetzii Glauca’, Blue Chip Juniper, Blue Rug Juniper, Chamaecyparis Pisifera ‘Golden Mop’, Juniperus Squamata ‘Blue Star’, Chamaecyparis Obtusa ‘Filicoides’, Thuja Occidentalis ‘Danica’, Japanese Cypress ‘Filifera Aurea’, ‘Nana Gracilis’ Hinoki Cypress, Grey Owl Juniper, Chaenomeles X Superba ‘Jet Trail’, Juniperus virginiana ‘Hetzii’ and President Grévy French Lilac.
As with other Juniperus’s, the Savin Juniper is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Savin Juniper is a plant native to the South East Canada to Central & Eastern U.S.A. and Mexico.
You might be wondering why your Savin Juniper’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environment conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Juniperus Sabina will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, A3.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Savin Juniper is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Savin Juniper? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Juniperus Sabina can grow up to 20′ – 25′ (6m – 7.5m) in 20′ – 25′ (6m – 7.5m) and 6′ – 8′ (180cm – 240cm) in 6′ – 8′ (180cm – 240cm).
These dimensions make the Savin Juniper a relatively large tree compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful spreading shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 72″ – 96″ (180cm – 240cm) free so the Savin Juniper can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Savin Juniper is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Juniperus Sabina grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low to average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Savin Juniper in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, moist, occasionally dry, and occasionally wet properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
However, in our experience, the best solution to knowing the right amount of water for your Savin Juniper is with the ‘thumb’ technique. Basically, you insert your finger into the soil, and based if you feel the soil moist or dry, you determine if it needs any water, which is the most appropriate way to go about watering your leafy friend.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Savin Juniper prefers to have soil with good drainage, moist, occasionally dry, and occasionally wet properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Savin Juniper requires soil with clay, loam (silt), sand, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Savin Juniper requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this tree will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Juniperus Sabina in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Savin Juniper will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Savin Juniper to flower around the winter and in the spring months from January to March (winter) and from April to June (spring).
The Savin Juniper produces some wonderful gold/yellow flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Savin Juniper have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a needles arrangement with a opposite and whorled organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Juniperus Sabina to be around (< 1 inch) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Savin Juniper is well known for its tolerance to rocky soil, dry soil, drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Juniperus Sabina will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Savin Juniper? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Juniperus Sabina owners agree that this tree will look great in most contemporary, asian/zen and mediterranean gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, city and courtyard, and in traditional garden styles.
In particular, the Savin Juniper’s best use for landscaping within your garden is as coastal exposure, mass planting, border, erosion control, or a rock garden.
Companion Plants
Savin Juniper’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Picea pungens, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Juniperus chinensis will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Savin Juniper, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
