| Description | Gold Strike (Juniperus horizontalis) is a slower-growing Juniper with bright golden foliage. The plant has a flat, slightly mounded growth habit, making this a good ground cover Juniper. |
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| Pronunciation | (ju-NIP-er-us) (hor-i-zon-TA-lis) |
| Plant Type | Shrubs Coniferous |
| Hardiness Zone | (3)4 |
| Sunlight | full, mostly sunny, some shade |
| Moisture | average |
| Soil & Site | average |
| Leaves | The plant has scale-like leaves and its chartreuse-variegated gold foliage starts yellow during spring. |
| Stems | flat, creeping, prostrate |
| Dimensions | 3-4 plus feet spread, 6 plus inches spread, ground-hugging prostrate growth habit |
| Maintenance | Pruning ground cover prostrate Junipers can be challenging. Most people tend to trim the ends, which results in pointed stubbed branches after a few years. To avoid this, you must lift the outside branches and cut the underneath branches. After that, feather back the top branches to the crotch of a branch. This method will create a much softer outside edge of the shrub. You may also notice some branches that die for no apparent reason. In such cases, you should use pruning shears to cut them out. Doing so will help to clean up the plant, allowing light to reach the shrub and promote new growth. Remember that Junipers are prickly, so wearing gloves and a long-sleeved shirt is advisable. |
| Propagation | cuttings |
| Cultivar Origin | It was originated as a seedling of Juniper Mother Lode. |
| Author's Notes | It is suggested that it looks like its mother, Juniper Mother Lode. In my observations, Mother Lode is much flatter and spreads with leading, spreading branch tips. I have seen Mother Lode on many occasions but Gold Strike on only a few. |
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