# Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma)

> Utah juniper, Juniperus osteosperma: a small tree of 10 to 39 feet for zones 3 to 9, where it grows wild, 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/utah-juniper/

![A dense, rounded Utah juniper on red sand among low shrubs, with mesas on the horizon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/utah-juniper-1000.jpg?v=c9e85b43 "A Utah juniper at the Green River Overlook in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, on September 9, 2016. One cross-dated in the Crawford Mountains of Utah was 1,967 years old.")
*Photo: Kenraiz, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJuniperus_osteosperma_kz06.jpg))*

Small tree, 10 to 39 feet, zones 3 to 9; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Utah 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 | Utah Juniper |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Bigberry juniper, desert juniper, desert cedar |
| Form | Small tree |
| Height, feet | 10 to 39; up to 45 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 20 |
| Zones | 3 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value |
| Pollen | March to April |
| Fruit | Berries, September to March |
| First crop | About 30 years |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Lifespan | The oldest tree dated by its rings reached 1,967 years. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Dry uplands and rocky ground |
| Native in | 9 states |

Utah juniper is native in 9 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [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), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT) 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 and the Gymnosperm Database.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=utah-juniper): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=utah-juniper): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=utah-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=utah-juniper): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=utah-juniper): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=utah-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=utah-juniper): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=utah-juniper): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=utah-juniper): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=utah-juniper): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Gum Bumelia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gum-bumelia/index.html.md) (*Sideroxylon lanuginosum*): small tree, 15 to 45 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Little Walnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/little-walnut/index.html.md) (*Juglans microcarpa*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Hop Hornbeam](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hop-hornbeam/index.html.md) (*Ostrya virginiana*): medium tree, 25 to 40 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) (*Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii*): medium tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Chinquapin Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chinquapin-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus muehlenbergii*): medium tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Eastern Red Cedar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-red-cedar/index.html.md) (*Juniperus virginiana*): medium tree, 30 to 50 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Every companion of Utah juniper in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=utah-juniper)

## Read from

Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, Colorado State University Extension, Calscape, the Jepson eFlora, the Gymnosperm Database and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.