Juniperus horizontalis 'Waukegan' is an evergreen plant with dense silvery blue foliage and a uniform growth habit and is very low growing. Foliage turns purplish in fall. It makes a good ground cover and used on banks for erosion control.
Juniperus horizontalis, commonly called creeping juniper, is a procumbent evergreen shrub that is native to Alaska, Canada and the northern US. It is typically found growing in rocky or sandy soils including rock outcroppings, stony slopes, coastal cliffs, prairies, sand dunes and stream banks. It forms a low groundcover that generally rises to 6-18” tall but spreads by long trailing branches with abundant short branchlets to form an often-dense, 4-10’ wide mat. Foliage is primarily scale-like (adult) with some awl/needle-like (juvenile) needles appearing usually in opposite pairs. Foliage is typically green to blue-green during the growing season, but often acquires purple tones in winter. Fleshy seed cones (dark blue berries) generally mature in two years, but are often absent on cultivated plants. Genus name comes from the Latin name for the juniper. Specific epithet is in obvious reference to the horizontal branches.
