LOL, I read that thread. I always get a kick out of people who use any opportunity to let all of us know that they are......smarter???? than the rest of us. As far as I was concerned, regardless of what kind of trees those were, I would have left them unless I had a "project" planned to immediately landscape the area and replace them with something else that was native.

In the context of that thread, what possible difference could it make if they were junipers or cedars? It looked like they had been growing there for a good while, with little or no care, prior to the new home owner moving in. That's a good thing, right? My thoughts are that if it works, don't "fix" it.

They are providing shade in an environment that looked a lot like mine (parched) as well as cover and possibly food for birds....so yeah, let's rip 'em out cause they are not cedars. And by the way....I never knew that cedars were that DESIRABLE anyway.

LOL, now you know why I didn't (couldn't) participate in that thread. I don't want to instigate a thread war. Maybe those posters won't visit this thread. But if they do, I will stand by my statements. And kudos to you for coming here and being first to air your feelings on the subject. Thanks too, for providing this platform for me to vent my pent up feelings on that subject :). Aren't you glad you asked???

Kristi

Our "cedar" story...

Going on a few decades ago, we lived briefly in a house in Northwest Florida. The place needed some sprucing-up (bad pun, maybe). We planted a patch of azaleas around a small cluster of trees that were native to that area. In one of the azalea pots, unbeknownst to us, was a little sprout of a "cedar." About a year or two after planting the azalea, the sapling became obvious.

We still lived there at the time the little tree got noticeable. DW wanted me to pull it out. I resisted, saying something like, "Hey, if it wants to grow, give it a chance. Those things are evergreens and their foliage is thicker than that of the native pines. I've seen mature specimens of them and they look great." She pestered me time and again, but I never budged.

We moved. Family after family has occupied that house over the years since. We have relatives in that area so we still visit there now and then. We always go down memory lane and look at that house when we visit.

Hurricanes, droughts and floods have come and gone. The tree is still there, and it is a BEAUTY! All but one of the native trees in the cluster have succumbed. Many of the azaleas we planted in that patch are gone - a few are still there and bloom great each late winter. But that "cedar" is one of the distinctive trees in that whole neighborhood. I don't believe I have seen another one like it for miles around.

No sign of other baby junipers, though, so I guess ours was a boy.

ditto what everybody said.

I love those trees.

I admire the guts of anything that has the tenacity to thrive, summer & winter, in our climate & to provide greenness & wildlife shelter.

Can I have one if I ask nice? LOL!PJ

haha! I'm glad I'm not the only cedar lover! It just cracks me up how people who are obviously not from around here come on, ask and get good advice, and then come back and ask again b/c they want a different answer.

My brother had new neighbors move in during the summer. They were from California. He said the first thing they did was chop down all the trees around the house, including a large fig that produced beautiful fruit. We were horrified! If they only knew how HARD it would be to get another tree to that size....

This is slightly off topic, but my yard is covered with those 'cedars' and I can't wait for the blue berries that will appear on them soon. Does anyone have recipes for making gin from them?

Pam

Nope, no recipe for gin.
I have only one in my yard. I had most taken out when I thought I might have to sell the house. I had grass put in to make it more sellable.
Now I wish I had not done that.

No, no gin recipes here either. I'm looking at some wine recipes that I have...you can make wine from anything - even live oak leaves and hackberries! If I find a recipe for something close, I'll post it.

I'm interested in a juniper jelly recipe. My cubemate swears that if you eat a few of the berries each day, you will build up your immune system (if you suffer from cedar fever.) I guess really the same concept of eating local honey.

Okay,

I recommend this book: Winemaker's Recipe Handbook by Raymond Massaccesi, 1976. I bought a copy at the Homebrew Store here in Austin.

It has recipes for nearly everything you can think of, plus others you would have never considered - ie. onion, coffee!

He references Juniperberries, but there is no straight recipe. You can use his general fruit and berry recipe.

Good luck! Our one attempt didn't turn out so good. We're trying beer now. :-)

I did some searching an was put off by the whole distilling process, guess I'll look for that Juniper Jam recipe ;-)

Pam