SOIL FOR ROCKY MOUNTAIN JUNIPER?

This afternoon one of my students brought in his Rocky Mountain juniper.

Within a few minutes the entire studio smelled like cat pee! It was too cold for him to go outside to work, so I looked for a can of Glade air freshener.

Would a soil mix of scented or deodorized kitty litter help with the aroma?

Bill
Just curious, I have not worked /owned any RMJ is this some sort of defense mechanism or something against pests ? Any ideas?..is sounds like it's very strong ?
 
Our cats are very hygienic and do their business outdoor. Next time you visit ask to smell my Ricky Mountain juniper bonsai.

It's being completely reworked to change to shimpaku because of the stink and foliage.

Yes, I have seen it, though I don't know that I've ever stuck my nose in it! Maybe next time...smells like boxwood on steroids?
 
Just curious, I have not worked /owned any RMJ is this some sort of defense mechanism or something against pests ? Any ideas?..is sounds like it's very strong ?
That's why Walter likens it to cougar piss...he theorizes the odor scares away deer and the like that might browse on the foliage.
 
It's being completely reworked to change to shimpaku because of the stink and foliage.

I'm attempting to swap out the foliage on another very old RMJ...but not because the stink!

Is it possible some do or do not smell because in the wild they often hybridize with Eastern Red Cedar? Curious is all :oops:

Grimmy
 
Is it possible some do or do not smell because in the wild they often hybridize with Eastern Red Cedar? Curious is all :oops:

Grimmy

I didn't know that they hybridized with ERC. I thought that the two have completely separate ranges - do you know where they grow together?
 
I thought that the two have completely separate ranges - do you know where they grow together?

The most common hybrids of Rocky Mountain Juniper and Eastern Red Cedar occur because they overlap in the wild there would be Northwest North Dakota, West Central South Dakota, and Northwest Nebraska. The region extends through central Nebraska and Kansas to the Oklahoma border.

It can in fact happen where they co-exist anywhere but those are the places and regions where it is common.

I have been "playing" with ERC for a few years now and noticed some odd differences so I researched and had that information in my not so organized notes :oops:

Grimmy
 
The most common hybrids of Rocky Mountain Juniper and Eastern Red Cedar occur because they overlap in the wild there would be Northwest North Dakota, West Central South Dakota, and Northwest Nebraska. The region extends through central Nebraska and Kansas to the Oklahoma border.

It can in fact happen where they co-exist anywhere but those are the places and regions where it is common.

I have been "playing" with ERC for a few years now and noticed some odd differences so I researched and had that information in my not so organized notes :oops:

Grimmy

That's cool. I wonder if ERC hybridizes with Ashe. Ashe is generally west of I35 and eastern red grows to the east. But I'm sure they must occur together in places.
 
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They hybridize with J. Horizontalis around here.
I just crushed some rmj needles and held them under my GF's nose. Big inhale, pleasant sigh and comment of "mmm that smells good". Must smell different south of the border eh?
 
That's cool.

If I remember correctly the Rocky Mountain Juniper does that with quite a few others. I only kept simple notes in reference to ERC but remembered that came up along the way.

They hybridize with J. Horizontalis around here.

Hard to believe sometimes but they sell oils and extracts people like :eek: I don't understand but hey... :p And the reason I posed the question to be honest.

Grimmy
 
That's cool. I wonder if ERC hybridizes with Ashe.

This article mentions it occurring in a study done in Oklahoma http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/documents/R2ES/LitCited/LPC_2012/Engle_and_Kulbeth_1992.pdf. Pretty certain it can occur anywhere they both grow. The Study is interesting as it does a comparison of growth in 3 distant locations where the ERC grows differently and infers the hybridization is the culprit. I was quite confused growing them at one point as there was noticeable differences in several grown the same way in the same location. Still, in my book anyways an interesting plant ;)

Grimmy
 
Is it the soil that smells or the foliage?

I don't think I've experienced an oder from the few RMJ I've seen.
 
This afternoon one of my students brought in his Rocky Mountain juniper.

Within a few minutes the entire studio smelled like cat pee! It was too cold for him to go outside to work, so I looked for a can of Glade air freshener.

Would a soil mix of scented or deodorized kitty litter help with the aroma?

Bill
I noticed that semll once before when I had a lot of crushed granite sitting around. I thought is too was cat wee? Just makes you think maybe it is cat pee, more speciofically Cougar pee. Cougars aka Mountain Lions mark their territory by spraying the environment, mostly trees that are at good sniffing height. It is possible the smell was left over as the tree was a harvested territorial marker for some large puddy cat with an attitude?
 
They smell all by themselves. Some more than others.
If that's true and I am not saying that you are wrong but I have had people tell me that Utah Juniper smells of cat pee. If this is so then are we talking about a general trait of Western Juniper being one of pee pee du jour a la gato.
 
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