Juniper Bushes & Animals

Densely branched junipers can retain their cones for several years.

Densely branched junipers can retain their cones for several years.

For evergreen shrubs that are low maintenance, drought tolerant and attract wildlife, especially songbirds, junipers (Juniperus spp.) are a good landscaping choice. Junipers come in a variety of heights and foliage colors and are suitable for ground covers, background plantings, hedges and specimen or accent plantings. The berry-like female cones are decorative, gray to blue-gray with hard seeds inside. The dense foliage provides cover for nesting and protection from predators, and is food for grazing wildlife.

Edible Fruits

More than 54 kinds of backyard birds eat the juniper fruits. In "Gardening for the Birds," George Adams specifically mentions the cedar waxwing, purple finch, American robin, evening grosbeak, yellow-rumped warbler, flickers, mockingbirds, bluebirds, Swainson's thrush, tree swallow, cliff swallow, eastern kingbird, jays, bobwhites and wild turkeys. Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) is especially important as winter food for birds and small mammals. Juniper cones are fleshy and succulent, and vary in taste depending on the species. Some native North American junipers have berries used as food by native peoples. In Europe, juniper cones flavor meat dishes and gin.


Junipers come as both trees and shrubs, depending on the species. Both growth forms have a densely branched growing habit, with the branches clad in scale-like needles. Native American species are grazed by herbivores, including deer, elk and pronghorn antelope. Songbirds rely on the heavy cover for nest-building and roosting sites, including the chipping sparrow, American robin, northern mockingbird, song sparrow, junco and yellow-rumped warbler. In Nevada, California juniper stands (Juniperus californicus) support birds such as Scott's oriole, lesser goldfinch, bushtit, mourning dove, ladder-backed woodpecker, ruby-crowned kinglet and ash-throated flycatcher.


Various butterflies and moths use junipers as larval food plants. Two kinds of hairstreak butterflies lay their eggs on junipers, Nelson's hairstreak and the juniper hairstreak. The Sequoia sphinx moth, with a wing span of about 2 to 2 3/4 inches, also lays its eggs on species of juniper and occurs in western North America from Oregon south into northern Baja California.


North American native junipers that grow as bushes make good candidates for drought-tolerant and xeriscape gardening. California juniper grows 10 to 15 feet tall with a broad, erect, open habit. The cones are bluish when young and age to reddish-brown, contrasting well with the bluish-gray foliage. It grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 10. Creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) is native to much of North America in USDA zones 3 through 9. There are many cultivars of this low-growing shrub that reaches 1 to 2 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide. Some of them don't bear fruit, so choose a variety that produces cones. The foliage is fragrant and blue-green and bears small blue fruits. Western juniper is a bush or small tree hardy in USDA zones 4 through 10. Plant both a male and female tree for cone production.

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