Illustration
Eastern Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana
Also called pencil cedar, cedar oil tree and virginia cedar
Eastern Red Cedar is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Eastern Red Cedar
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 2–9. Expect it to reach about 45 ft tall and 15 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 10 years (a house reading).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
- Listed as poisonous to people by NC State Extension and Royal Horticultural Society.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
What was checked
Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Eastern Red Cedar
Plant Eastern Red Cedar in spring once the soil is workable, or by very early fall at the latest: an evergreen needs its roots down well before the ground freezes. In zone 6, the middle of its hardy zones 2 to 9, that is March to May, or August on the fall side.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 6, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 6 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Eastern Red Cedar get?
45 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult15 ftwideSee Eastern Red Cedar in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Eastern Red Cedar
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Eastern Red Cedar about 15 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Eastern Red Cedar to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Eastern Red Cedar's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and trait tags were checked against 10 published sources on October 19, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources. Bloom was checked as well: Eastern Red Cedar bears no flowers, so there is no bloom window for a source to carry.
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and trait tags
- NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and trait tags
- abnativeplants.comAmerican Beauties Native Plantsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and water
- naturalresources.extension.iastate.eduIowa State University Extension and Outreachheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- Plant Addictsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and water
- The Morton Arboretumheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and water
- pridescorner.comPrides Corner Farmsheight, spread and hardiness zones
- University of Illinois Extensionheight, hardiness zones and water
- Chicago Botanic Gardenheight and hardiness zones
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Societyheight and sun
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Where it grows wild
Native to 39 states and 2 provinces
United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and 27 more
Recorded growing wild in 1,427 counties.
Range data from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 4.0, adapted) and USDA PLANTS. How the native range is credited.
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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.