Taylor Juniper

A narrow, silver-green column of native evergreen that screens like a wall while taking up almost no ground space.

Taylor Juniper (Juniperus virginiana 'Taylor') is a strikingly upright selection of our native Eastern red cedar, prized for its tight, fastigiate habit and soft silvery-green to blue-green foliage. It holds its dense, feathery texture top to bottom year-round and grows at a steady, moderate pace to a mature 15–20 ft. tall while staying remarkably narrow — making it a natural choice for tight privacy screens, formal vertical accents, and windbreaks where a wide-spreading tree simply won't fit.

What I love about it

Taylor Juniper is the privacy screen for people who've been burned by arborvitae. As a juniper, it shrugs off browsing deer far better than arborvitae — a major advantage where deer pressure is high. It's genuinely tough: once established it handles heat, drought, and poor soils with ease, and it's reliably evergreen across Zones 3–9. The silvery-green foliage has a soft, feathery texture that looks elegant in a formal row or as a standalone vertical accent. It naturally holds its slim shape with little to no pruning. If you want a tall, narrow, deer-resistant screen that actually stays tidy, this is your tree.

Plant Care Tips

• ☀️ Light: Full sun — 6–8 hours daily for best density and color
• 💧 Water: Drought-tolerant once established; water deeply when young
• 🌡️ Temperature: Hardy to -40°F (Zone 3); extremely cold and heat tolerant
• 🪴 Difficulty: Very easy — one of the most low-maintenance privacy trees available
• 🐾 Pet Safety: Mildly toxic if berries ingested in large quantities
• 📏 Spacing: Space 4–5 ft apart for a solid narrow hedge

Plant Specs

• Mature Size: 15–20 ft tall, 2–3 ft wide (very narrow)
• Growth Rate: Moderate
• Foliage: Silvery-green to blue-green; dense, feathery texture year-round
• Form: Tight, upright column — fastigiate habit
• Growing Zone: 3–9