I have planted about 40 Emerald Green Arborvitae and I need to plant 40 more. Lowes sold them but they are not ordering anymore. The supplier is in Canada and they're called Selenca(?) or something like that. I need to find out if I can order directly from them - I want to keep the same/similar arborvitae - and some of the nurseries around here have them but they do not look similar.... any help out there ? Thanks -Ray

I have to backtrack a little and explain that when I planted the first set of trees, I was a COMPLETE newbie. I did not even have the soaker hose down at that point. I was watering them by hand about once a week thinking that would be enough. The soaker hose is that flat fabric kind and I've got two of them connected to a "Y" at the edge of my house...one length that goes down the side of the house is 25 feet, the other length goes toward the yard 50 feet. Together they make a 75 foot run and I read that a length under 100 feet should not be an issue where equal pressure is concerned...am I wrong? There is no "incline" along the length where the water ever has to go uphill, that is an optical illusion. From where the water enters the hose it only goes downhill slightly. I've been using this soaker hose all summer and it seems to do the job well, although I had to use it every day since I did not have time to put mulch down until this fall. I am thinking the reason the first batch died was from obvious lack of water before going into winter and then drying out by spring. Also not having mulch might have been a factor since we got down to -5 last winter. I have a hunch that the drying winds knocked out most of them, since my few survivors were the ones next to the house where they are somewhat protected. Which leads me to another question... What do you think of Wilt-Pruf? Could I prevent some dessication by using it? I was going to go with burlap but that is an awful lot that I would need to wrap...do these even need protection from wind if they get enough water before winter? I think in the spring I will move the one arb with the dead branch to the end of the line and replace it so I can keep the height I have going in that area (I need it there! I don't think want a window in my hedge..haha).

"Dig down 4-6 inches right at the trunks of a few to check for dampness. Tell us what you find as that is the key to everything. I suspect the rootballs have not had a chance to absorb the water no matter how much it pooled and the water was wicked away by the surrounding sand. If that is the case, only a slow trickle right at the trunk will save your trees." I dug and the rootballs are moist. At least the ground (err... sand) around the tree is moist 6 inches below ground level. So I'm guessing I should continue doing what I'm doing and hope they bounce back? It's only been a week since I started watering every day.

Whenever I plant something like that, I put the hose right next to the trunk and let the water run for maybe 5 minutes. Not only does it soak the root ball. it also help settle the soil and get rid of air pockets. After that, I rarely ever need to water again. I usually plant evergreens in the fall. I have maybe 25 arbs right now and it worked for all of them. Arborvitaes don't seem to need a lot of water. They're pretty drought tolerant. My soil holds water really well and I get consistent precipitation year round in zone 7a. If you live in a hot arid location, what I do probably wouldn't work for you.