Illustration
Blue Chip Juniper
Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chip'
Also called blue chip creeping juniper
Blue Chip Juniper 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 Blue Chip Juniper
Plant it in full sun. It prefers low water. It is hardy in USDA zones 3–9. Expect it to reach about 0.5 ft tall and 4 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 10 years (checked).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
- Listed as poisonous to people by 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
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant, with what the sources could not settle written down; years to mature size rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one, and is marked so; its common name and alternate names have not been checked yet. 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 Blue Chip Juniper
Plant Blue Chip Juniper 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 3 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 Blue Chip Juniper get?
0.5 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult4 ftwideSee Blue Chip Juniper 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 Blue Chip Juniper
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Space Blue Chip Juniper about 4 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.
Add Blue Chip Juniper 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
Blue Chip Juniper's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, years to mature size, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 23 published sources on October 11, 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: Blue Chip Juniper bears no flowers, so there is no bloom window for a source to carry.
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- The Morton Arboretumheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- boethingtreeland.comBoething Treeland Farms (wholesale grower, California)height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, soil, diseases and pests
- conservationgardenpark.jvwcd.govConservation Garden Park (Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, Ut...height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil and pests
- Plant Addictsthe queue's storeheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil and diseases
- plants.westonnurseries.comNetPS Plant Finder (Weston Nurseries)height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, soil and pests
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Society (RHS Plants)height, spread, sun, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- plantdatabase.uconn.eduUniversity of Connecticut Plant Databaseheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, diseases and pests
- promessedefleurs.iePromesse de Fleurs (French mail-order nursery; its English-language Ir...height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, years to mature size and soil
- nvknurseries.comNVK Nurseries (Dundas, Ontario)height, spread, hardiness zones, water and trait tags
- pridescorner.comPrides Corner Farms (wholesale grower, Lebanon, Connecticut)height, spread, hardiness zones, trait tags and pests
- devilmountainnursery.comDevil Mountain Wholesale Nursery (California)height, spread, hardiness zones and water
- shop.baileynurseries.comBailey Nurseries (wholesale grower, St. Paul, Minnesota)height, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- conifersociety.orgAmerican Conifer Society Conifer Databaseheight, spread and years to mature size
- plantsearch.extension.umn.eduUniversity of Minnesota Extension (Plant Elements of Design plant data...height, spread and hardiness zones
- US plant patent (Google Patents)the patent of ANOTHER cultivar, Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Prince'height, spread and diseases
- ag.ndsu.eduNorth Dakota State University, North Dakota Tree Selector (Creeping Ju...water and soil
- Internet Archive (archived page)D. Hill Nursery Co. (Union, Illinois), the introducer under this name:...height and spread
- Oregon State UniversityLandscape Plantsheight and hardiness zones
- Plant Addictsarticle: Are Juniper Poisonous?toxicity
- University of Illinois ExtensionHort Answersheight
- woodyplants.cals.cornell.eduCornell University Woody Plants Databaseheight
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Good to know about Blue Chip Juniper
Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note.
Safety
Toxicity depends on the species. Savin (Juniperus sabina) is dangerous: its oil can cause miscarriage and liver damage. Common junipers show no such effect. Never use juniper oil internally. per Molecules
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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.