# Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)

> Rocky Mountain juniper, Juniperus scopulorum: a small tree of 20 to 40 feet where planted, for zones 3 to 7 and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/rocky-mountain-juniper/

![Rocky Mountain junipers, dense dark green trees, on a dry ridge above a broad valley with mountains in the haze](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/rocky-mountain-juniper-1000.jpg?v=db44f528 "Rocky Mountain junipers on the Hogback ridge above Paradise Valley, Montana, on May 20, 2023. One cross-dated at El Malpais, New Mexico, was 1,889 years old.")
*Photo: Matt Lavin, [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJuniperus_scopulorum_-_Rocky_Mountain_juniper_-_1.jpg))*

Small tree, 20 to 40 feet where planted, zones 3 to 7; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Rocky Mountain juniper, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Rocky Mountain Juniper |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Rocky Mountain cedar, river juniper, weeping juniper, seaside juniper, Colorado red cedar, mountain red cedar, Rocky Mountain red cedar |
| Form | Small tree |
| Height, feet | 20 to 40 where planted; up to 66 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 20 |
| Zones | 3 to 7 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | April to June |
| Fruit | Berries, September to April |
| First crop | 10 to 20 years (most seed from 50 to 200) |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Male and female cones grow on separate trees, so a female tree bears berries only with a male nearby. |
| Lifespan | Usually lives 250 to 300 years or more and is reputed to reach 3,000, and the oldest dated one reached 1,889. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Planting season | Spring. The NRCS plant guide says junipers move easily in early spring, before new growth starts. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rocky ground, dry uplands, sandy barrens, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 15 states |

Rocky Mountain juniper is native in 15 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System, the NRCS plant guide, Silvics of North America and the Kansas Forest Service. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=rocky-mountain-juniper): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=rocky-mountain-juniper:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Dwarf Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis tenuifolia*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Gum Bumelia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gum-bumelia/index.html.md) (*Sideroxylon lanuginosum*): small tree, 15 to 45 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Farkleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/farkleberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium arboreum*): small tree, 10 to 25 feet, zones 6 to 10. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Flatwoods Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/flatwoods-plum/index.html.md) (*Prunus umbellata*): small tree, 12 to 20 feet, zones 4 to 10. Shares dry uplands, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Rusty Blackhaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rusty-blackhaw/index.html.md) (*Viburnum rufidulum*): small tree, 10 to 20 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Eve's Necklace](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eve-necklace/index.html.md) (*Styphnolobium affine*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 7 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Every companion of Rocky Mountain juniper in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=rocky-mountain-juniper)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, NC State Extension, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, Kansas State University's Kansas Forest Service, NDSU Extension, the Gymnosperm Database and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.