Grey Owl Red Cedar

Grey Owl carries soft silvery-grey foliage that arches outward rather than standing stiff, which gives it a looser look than most junipers. Juniperus virginiana 'Grey Owl' grows 2 to 3 feet tall and spreads 4 to 6 feet in full sun, hardy from Zone 2 through Zone 9. It produces abundant blue berries that hold into winter and feed cedar waxwings and other songbirds. Zone 2 through Zone 9 is about as wide a range as any woody plant carries, and the low wide habit suits a foundation planting, a bank, or a mass planting where a taller juniper would block sightlines. Red cedar is a larval host for the juniper hairstreak, a small green butterfly that spends its whole life around these trees. It handles drought, salt, and poor dry soil, wants sharp drainage, and will not tolerate wet feet. Deer leave it alone. Keep it away from apples, crabapples, and hawthorns, since junipers host cedar-apple rust.