• Fallen oak leaves dapple a creeping juniper groundcover.junipers and leaves image by Jon Yuschock from Fotolia.com
  
  Tolerant of drought and winter cold, junipers (Juniperus spp.) planted among beautifully shaped and colored boulders and rocks can create an alluring garden setting. Too much needled foliage, however, can create a landscape reminiscent of a cemetery, so consider adding other features to break up a collection of rocks and junipers. Choose plants that are compatible with the soil, sun exposure and overall maintenance you perform in your rock garden, as well as plants that are winter hardy in your region.
  
  

Asian-Inspired Design

• With rocks and juniper plants already growing, why not embellish the garden area with components common in a Zen or "meditation" garden from the Far East? According to Barbara Damrosch, author of "Theme Gardens," Japanese-inspired garden design tends to focus on plants that look good year-round and a couple of meticulously pruned shrubs or trees as accent or focal points. Add an azalea, a dwarf flowering-cherry tree, fullmoon maple (Acer japonicum) or other contrasting (flowering) shrub to stand out against the green, feathery texture of the junipers. Consider expanses of sand and crushed stone between the shrubs and rocks, or add a piece of statuary or other artwork as a feature in your juniper rock garden.
  
  

Highlight Winter Interest

• We may most appreciate junipers from fall to early spring, when deciduous plants are leafless and dormant. Design your juniper rock garden as a winter garden. Winter gardens highlight bark, evergreen leaves or persistent seed-heads or berries. Add a few perennial plants that dry after frost and provide texture against the juniper foliage, such as upright stonecrop (Sedum 'Autumn Joy'), or any short, ornamental grass. Evergreen shrubs that blush their foliage to shades of red or burgundy would be pretty in winter. Examples include heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica), doghobble (Leucothoe) or Oregon grape (Mahonia). Cotoneaster, dwarf winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite'), firethorn (Pyracantha) or beautyberry (Callicarpa) will add fruit color. Even winter-blooming shrubs, such as Japanese paperbush (Edgeworthia), camellia or winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima), would be a welcome addition. Melinda Myers, in a Fine Gardening article, suggests adding color with other evergreens, such as dwarf conifers with different needle colors, the blue of Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens var. glauca) or yellow of a false cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera).
  
  

Diversify Garden Plantings

• Another option is to fuse other plant collections with the juniper rock garden. Plant a collection of flowering bulbs at the bases of junipers, among the bare rocks. Great choices include daffodils, crocuses, miniature irises (Iris reticulata) and resurrection lilies (Lycoris). Intermingle flowering shrubs, such as azaleas, mountain laurels (Kalmia latifolia), California lilacs (Ceanothus) or cinquefoils (Potentilla), among the juniper boughs. Blooming perennials would also be a nice interruption to the juniper plants' form and texture. Try bearded or Siberian irises, peonies, coneflowers (Echinacea), asters or mums. Make sure these other plants will not overgrow, shade or mask your prized junipers.