PlantFiles: Ashe Juniper, Post Cedar, Mountain Cedar, Blueberry Juniper
Juniperus ashei

This Juniper, much like Juniperus virginiana, can be weedy and aggressive in areas, but well grown specimens are impressive and neat trees. It's also very useful in places where little else will grow and it's toughness is admirable. It seems to prefer limestone derived soils but will grow in moderately acid soils if planted there. Mine has done very well on a dry slope with moderately acid soils and has no problems with my winter temperatures which have been as cold as -5°F since I planted it.

This Juniper is native in a spotty fashion to a roughly 250 mile wide swath from Monclova, Mexico to Branson, Missouri. So it's native to MO, OK, AR, and TX in the US and Coahuila in Mexico.

The species as a whole is clearly hardy to zone 5, especially since no native woody plant that grows with it in the Ozarks isn't at least zone 5 hardy and I've had no problems at all with any plant I've propagated from wild Ozark populations surviving -15°F.

I do not grow this tree, but it seems to have good points and bad. The durable wood is often used as fenceposts, but often the trunks become branched and twisted before growing large enough for commercial use.

Found along limestone outcrops of plateaus and mountains, also in oak-hickory forests. Sometimes forming large thickets.

The range is from the Ozark Mts of MO, AR and NE. OK and in southern OK in Arbuckle Mts, central TX, including Edwards Plateau..also into NE Mexico

Local wildlife eat the sweetish berries.

Named for William Willard Ashe, pioneer forester of the US Forest Service, who first collected it in Arkansas

The Ashe juniper, a true Texas native, is often blamed for our problems in the Texas Hill Country. In the rush to place blame on the tree for our problems, politics has often gotten ahead of science.
Yet our anguish is the result of decades of land degradations. This tree is only a symptom of our problems, not the cause. Some would even go so far as to say it is nature's band-aid...here to heal that which we continue to destroy.
Nature has no schedule for her healing ways. However, we do. We must learn to work with the tree to effectively restore our Hill Country soils, diversity and springs.

Many people dislike this tree because of allegic reactions to the pollen of the male trees, and because they see it as an invader.
Other people see it differently. As a xeriscape plant it is a good selection because it is evergreen, beneficial to wildlife as a food source and habitat provider, and stubbornly drought resistant.
The wood is very useful to man, whether it be made into fence post or moth balls.
Ashe juniper is reffered to locally as Cedar.
When the trees are young, they appear as baby Christmas trees. Older trees can become quite large and tall.

A strongly misunderstood tree. Pruned at the bottom to allow light, you can grow a number of different grasses including drought resistant buffalo grass. The lumber from these trees is excellant. Strong, stable, and insect resistant. I've got some beautiful hand made cabinets in my house made from the juniper. Additionally, fewer insect problems due to the aromatic heartwood. I've never found fleas on my dogs

This tree is extremely invasive and chokes the life out of other plants by blocking the light and by taking in the rain water. It is not a pretty tree and causes allergies in many people. Most people in the Texas Hill Country cut down and burn ashe juniper (which is commonly referred to as "Mountain Cedar").

The fruit, which can be used to season some dishes, is reported to be toxic and cause gastrointestinal problems when used in large quantities. Use no more than one or two berries in cooking.