Illustration
Alpine Carpet Juniper
Juniperus communis 'Mondap'
Also called alpine carpet
Alpine Carpet Juniper is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Alpine Carpet Juniper
Plant it in full sun. It prefers low water. It is hardy in USDA zones 2–6. Expect it to reach about 0.5 ft tall and 3 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 10 years (a house reading).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
What was checked
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant, with what the sources could not settle written down; years to mature size rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one, and is marked so; its common name and alternate names have not been checked yet. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Alpine Carpet Juniper
Plant Alpine Carpet Juniper in spring once the soil is workable, or by very early fall at the latest: an evergreen needs its roots down well before the ground freezes. In zone 4, the middle of its hardy zones 2 to 6, that is April to June, or July on the fall side.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 4, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 4 in April. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Alpine Carpet Juniper get?
0.5 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult3 ftwideSee Alpine Carpet Juniper in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Alpine Carpet Juniper
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Space Alpine Carpet Juniper about 3 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.
Add Alpine Carpet Juniper to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Alpine Carpet Juniper's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 9 published sources on September 26, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources. Bloom was checked as well: Alpine Carpet Juniper bears no flowers, so there is no bloom window for a source to carry.
- Plant Addictsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil and pests
- plants.millcreekgardens.comNetPS Plant Finder (Millcreek Gardens)height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil and diseases
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderhardiness zones, sun, water, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- plantsomethingmontana.orgPlant Something Montanaheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and soil
- pridescorner.comPrides Corner Farmsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and pests
- The Morton Arboretumsun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- nvknurseries.comNVK Nurseriesheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and water
- Oregon State UniversityLandscape Plantsheight, spread and hardiness zones
- Plant Addictstoxicity
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Where it grows wild
A garden form of Juniperus communis
Its wild parent is native to 39 states and 14 provinces.
United States: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and 27 more
Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Labrador, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon and 2 more
Range data from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 4.0, adapted) and USDA PLANTS. How the native range is credited.
Good to know about Alpine Carpet Juniper
Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note.
Safety
Toxicity depends on the species. Savin (Juniperus sabina) is dangerous: its oil can cause miscarriage and liver damage. Common junipers show no such effect. Never use juniper oil internally. per Molecules
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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.