Eastern Red Cedar Seedlings

[a.k.a Eastern Redcedar, Virginia Cedar]
[Juniperus virginiana]

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Eastern Red Cedar are excellent for developing wildlife habitat on your property, offering birds cover for nesting, and berries as a food source during stressful winters. Juniperus virginiana grow at a fairly average speed for an evergreen and reach heights of about 40 feet. Their dense and rot resistant wood is is famously used in cedar chests, cedar closets and outdoor applications such as fencing. The root system of this species is very dense, making it a perfect tree for erosion control.

SOLD OUT till Spring 2025, see Eastern Red Cedar plug seedlings

The Eastern Red Cedar is a very dense, columnar ornamental that is excellent as a windbreak or privacy screen. It is actually not a true Cedar, but rather a Juniper…somewhere in the past, the name just stuck.

Juniperus virginiana seedlings grow as far south as Texas and Florida, and as far west as Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. This species requires light, well-drained soil, and does not need a lot of watering. Rich soils and lots of water can result in root rot, which will kill the tree. This is actually an advantage for people who have poor soil, or who just want to plant and [almost] forget. Watering would only be necessary in the first year after planting, when the roots can’t reach far enough down for deeper moisture.

Interesting Features

Interestingly, Eastern Red Cedar are a mixture of male and female, with the females producing minuscule flowers and blue berries. The males produce what look like pine cones [but are actually pollen-producing structures]. So it is impossible to determine male vs. female until they reach maturity and produce the telltale signs. Although the females must be pollinated to produce the seed-bearing fruit, pollen can remain airborne for many many miles. But there are enough cedars throughout the US that even an isolated female should bear fruit.