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Small, rounded and always elegant 🌿
Family: Cupressaceae · Pot diameter: 13cm · Height: 15cm
Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’ resembles a small silver-blue sculpture shaped from countless short tufts. Radiating tips overlap into a dense, rounded crown with a crisp outline, intricate texture and a naturally gentle asymmetry. Its cool metallic colour lifts the surrounding greens and gives the composition a calm, sophisticated focal point that draws the eye without ever feeling formal or severe.
Alone in an elegant pot, it has the presence of a collector’s piece; repeated among stone, gravel and low perennials, it creates rhythm and depth. Its richly textured surface pairs beautifully with purple foliage, white flowers and warm-toned stone, making even a restrained planting feel considered and complete.
Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’ holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit for dependable garden performance in suitable conditions.
Short radial shoots gather into silver-blue stars, building a compact mound with an appealingly irregular outline.
Short branches radiate into dense, irregular points that explain both the name and the lively outline.
Waxy foliage catches the light and gives the crown a cool tone from every viewing angle.
Slow extension and close branching maintain a small, full form without routine shearing.
Why you will love it: it delivers permanent silver-blue colour and genuine conifer architecture in a slow-growing form at a scale suited to small gardens and pots.
Use it in full sun at the front of a border, among gravel and stone, or alone in an outdoor pot where its full outline remains visible. Allow about 70–80cm between it and plants of a similar scale.
Broader leaves and fine grasses make its short radial texture appear even sharper.
Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’ performs best in open full sun; this exposure also keeps its compact star-like mound clearly defined.
Water Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’ thoroughly while it establishes, then let the upper root zone dry modestly before watering again; protect the compact roots from continuous saturation.
Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’ is a hardy evergreen conifer. The compact crown is cold hardy, although a pot needs protection from repeated freeze-thaw saturation.
This conifer is not edible; gloves help protect sensitive skin when working among its short, sharply pointed silver-blue shoots.
Place in open full sun, where even light and free air movement can keep the compact star-like mound dense and clearly defined.
For Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’, use a gritty, freely draining mix that stays open around the fine roots, even after repeated winter rain.
During the first season, water the compact root zone thoroughly whenever the upper soil begins to dry, then let surplus moisture drain away.
Once established, water thoroughly after the upper root zone has begun to dry, allowing excess moisture to drain fully between soakings.
A frost-resistant pot just wider than the crown suits its slow growth. Generous drainage holes protect the fine roots during wet freeze-thaw weather.
A light balanced spring feed is sufficient if growth appears weak; rich feeding can stretch the short shoots and loosen the tight mound.
Remove a problem shoot at its point of origin or at a hidden side branch, preserving the irregular star-like surface.
After winter, tease debris from between the short shoots and remove only genuinely damaged growth.
The young plant is tight and low, with short shoots pointing in several directions.
Repeated side branching closes gaps while preserving an irregular, living outline.
By about ten years, the crown is typically around 50cm high and 70cm wide, forming a dense, bun-shaped mound rather than a perfect sphere.
By about ten years it forms a dense, rounded mound approximately 50cm high and 70cm wide. Numerous short tufts overlap without exposing long bare spokes.
Winter often gives the silver-blue foliage a cooler, steelier cast. The star pattern sharpens gradually as short shoots multiply.
What to expect after planting: The young plant is tight and low, with short shoots pointing in several directions. As fresh side shoots multiply, the crown fills out while retaining its irregular, living outline.
Around 1950, an unusually compact side growth appeared on Juniperus squamata ‘Meyeri’ at A. Hoogeveen’s nursery in Reeuwijk, the Netherlands. Conifer specialists describe this type of growth as a witch’s broom.
Hoogeveen propagated it separately. The new form retained the silver-blue foliage of Juniperus squamata ‘Meyeri’ but produced short, dense, radiating tips; by 1964–65 it had been recognised and introduced to the nursery trade as Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’.
Short internodes and changing branch angles create the compact but deliberately irregular star-like crown.
Waxy surfaces scatter light above the green tissue, so light, season and handling can alter the visible intensity without changing the cultivar.
What to know about the light, pace, watering and winter colour of ‘Blue Star’.
Open full sun provides even light around the short radial shoots and keeps the mound compact. Heavy shade weakens both colour and definition.
No. Its appeal lies in an irregular rounded mound whose short shoots end in distinct star-like tufts.
This is a very slow-growing selection. Root establishment comes first, and the dense silver-blue surface builds gradually over several seasons.
Water thoroughly when the upper root zone has dried modestly. Do not keep the fine roots continually saturated.
Yes, provided the pot is frost resistant, only slightly broader than the crown and generously drained. Prevent water from lingering during repeated freeze-thaw weather.
Lower temperatures can cool the silver-blue surface towards a muted steel tone. This normal seasonal response eases with spring growth.
