{"slug":"juniperus-scopulorum","scientific_name":"Juniperus scopulorum","common_names":["Rocky Mountain juniper","Rocky Mountain redcedar","Colorado red cedar"],"family":"Cupressaceae","type":"conifer","mature_height_m":10,"mature_spread_m":3,"growth_rate":"slow","lifespan_years":275,"hardiness_zones":[3,7],"sun":"full_partial","water":"low","soil":"Dry, well-drained clay, loam, sand or rocky soil, including alkaline; cannot tolerate wet soil","native_range":"Western North America from southern British Columbia and Alberta through the Rocky Mountains and northern Plains to Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas and northern Mexico.","description":"A narrow, pyramidal to rounded evergreen with scale-like blue-gray to green foliage, shredding reddish-brown bark and waxy blue berry-like cones that birds eat. It grows slowly on dry, rocky, windy sites where little else survives and is the standard windbreak and screening conifer of the Plains and Mountain West, with upright cultivars such as 'Blue Arrow', 'Skyrocket', 'Wichita Blue' and 'Moonglow'. Keep it away from apple and crabapple trees because it hosts cedar-apple rust.","care":"Plant in full sun in well-drained soil and water occasionally the first year; afterward it needs almost nothing. Prune lightly in late winter if shaping; it does not resprout from old wood. Phomopsis and Kabatina twig blights in wet springs, cedar-apple rust, bagworms and spider mites are the main problems; it is highly flammable, so keep it away from houses in wildfire country.","benefits":["drought_tolerant","windbreak","wildlife","birds","salt_tolerant","erosion_control","small_space","long_lived"],"uses":["windbreak","screening","small_yard","hedgerow","parks"],"cautions":["allergenic_pollen","pest_prone"],"image_url":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Juniperus_scopulorum%2C_Badlands_National_Park%2C_South_Dakota_01.jpg","image_credit":"John Brew https://www.inaturalist.org/people/brewbooks, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons","sources":["https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/juniperus-scopulorum/","https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/JUSC2","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_scopulorum"],"data_note":null,"updated_at":"2026-11-08T01:00:46.205Z","page_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/juniperus-scopulorum","markdown_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/juniperus-scopulorum.md","regions":[{"country":"CA","region":"AB","locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/JUSC2"},{"country":"CA","region":"BC","locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/JUSC2"},{"country":"US","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":"Native from Washington and the Dakotas south through the Rockies and Plains to Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas (more than 15 states).","source_url":"https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/JUSC2"}],"license":"CC-BY-4.0"}