Brodie Juniper

The Brodie Juniper, scientifically known as Juniperus virginiana ‘Brodie’, is a distinguished and highly desirable evergreen conifer, a specific cultivar of the Eastern Red Cedar. This resilient long-lived perennial is a selection of a species native to a vast range across eastern North America, from Maine south to Florida and west to the Dakotas and Texas. It is highly adaptable, thriving in a wide variety of climates, from cold northern winters to the intense heat and drought of the American Southwest, making it a reliable choice for landscapes in Phoenix, Arizona. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil, tolerating sand, loam, clay, and even urban pollution. The Brodie Juniper can easily live for 70 years or more, with the parent species known to live for centuries.

Its most distinctive characteristic is its narrow, upright, and columnar growth habit, giving it a formal and architectural presence in the landscape. It typically grows 20-30 feet tall with a spread of 6-8 feet, making it an excellent alternative to Italian Cypress for vertical accents or screening in narrower spaces. The foliage is a rich, feathery, grass-green in summer, often transitioning to a sage green or even a slight bronzy tint in colder winter temperatures. The bark is attractive, typically red-brown and peeling with age. Brodie Juniper is a dioecious plant, meaning male and female flowers are on separate trees. Female trees produce small, round, frosty blue berries (cones) in late winter or early spring, which are a valuable food source for songbirds, particularly cedar waxwings. This juniper is highly valued for its exceptional drought tolerance once established, its low maintenance requirements, and its natural resistance to deer, insects, and diseases. Its year-round deep green color and vertical form make the Brodie Juniper an excellent choice for privacy screens, windbreaks, specimen plantings, or formal hedges in a wide range of landscapes, including the challenging conditions found in Phoenix, Arizona.