Native Plants

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Wednesday - June 04, 2008

From: Katy, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Propagation, Transplants
Title: Propagation of Ashe junipers
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I am trying to re-build what man has destroyed in the Kingsland/Marble Falls area on a property we own out there. I would LOVE to plant a couple ashe junipers for several reasons, a couple being: 1. Wildlife use and 2. Privacy screening for cleared lot on property next to me. My problem is I can't find it available for sale any where. Any ideas on where I can find a few of these. I tried to transplant a young plant, but it didn't make it even with regular watering from a sprinkler on a timer. Thank you.

ANSWER:

Your property would appear to be in Burnet County, which, according to this USDA Plant Profile for Juniperus ashei (Ashe's juniper), should be a good place for the Ashe juniper to grow. According to our website, propagation should be by seeds; that is, the blue berries that appear on the female bushes and are collected in late Summer to Fall. The propagation information is near the bottom of the page for this plant on our website.

One problem in obtaining transplants commercially is that a lot of people right now are trying to remove the Ashe juniper instead of propagating it. In the course of our research to answer your question, we ran across this article from the Lower Colorado River Authority on reduction and removal of the Ashe juniper in the Marble Falls area. Another problem is that the tree has a long taproot which, if damaged, can result in the death of the tree, which you have apparently already discovered. Your chances are better with a very small tree. If you have the patience, you might go the seed route. Go to our Suppliers section, put your city and state in the Location Search Area box, and you will get a list of plant suppliers in your area, with websites or phone numbers so you can check to see if they stock this plant.

Failing that, perhaps you would like to try some alternatives for your purposes, wildlife and privacy. We are going to go to Recommended Species on our website, select for Central Texas, tree, perennial, and sun, and get a list of possibilities to recommend to you. Here are four possibilities:

Cercis canadensis var. mexicana (Mexican redbud)

Chilopsis linearis (desert willow)

Diospyros texana (Texas persimmon)

Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain-laurel)

Cercis canadensis var. mexicana

Chilopsis linearis

Diospyros texana