Juniper, “the plant we love to hate”

A lot of people in this region of the country have some commonly stated misconceptions about Juniper species, colloquially referred to as “cedar”, though there are no true cedar (Cedrus spp.) native to North America.

The first misconception is usually along the lines of, “Juniper sucks water from the soil and is a water hog.” Not quite so. Juniper is very shallow-rooted and is not considered a phreatophyte plant, so therefore that line of thought does not hold water (pun intended). Continue reading “Juniper, “the plant we love to hate””