"there is a conifer forum ... " Sorry, I'm new to this board. "what is your soil .... how is your drainage.. and how do you water.. when you do it right????" My soil has a lot of clay. Drainage is fairly good, although I get a lot of water from a higher area that drains through this area. I haven't watered the trees in 2 years. I have just let nature take it's course. This can't be the reason they are dying, as half of the trees looks fantastic. "PS: how do you forget to turn off a hose for 3 days... lol .. you really didnt expect to get away without a little ribbing...." Wasn't really my fault. I actually installed an automatic watering system for these trees. Tied in flexible 1/2" line to my existing automatic sprinklers, and looped them around each tree. LOTS of work, and money. That particular zone got stuck in the "on" position for a few days, hence the mistaken overwatering. And the trees on lower ground were closer to the main feed and seem to get a lot more water than the ones further away. That's why I thought it may have been a water problem. Anyway, I haven't used that zone or watered any of the trees for the last 2 years. I was nervous about overwatering. I am still unsure what's going on. Any help would be appreciated.

I’m about to have 3’-4’ Green Giant Arbovitae installed as a privacy fence along our property line. Spacing will be 5’ but I’m curious as to how far off the line I they should be planted. In the responses above I’ve read these plants can be between 4 ft and 10-20 ft wide. That’s a large difference. How far off the line should they be planted (in zone 6b)?

we will get you there john ... see link.. review.. study.. commit to memory ... conifers.. trees... shrubs.. the rules are all the same.. they do not vary according to the type of plant ... [the big differences is when you change the rules for perennials/annuals.. or pots... etc] IMHO.. the only real issue is soil type ... in terms of drainage ... and how that impacts watering.... review it all at the link ... deep watering every other day.. is probably way over the top ... only you can determine how to water.. PROPERLY.. in your soil ... you water when the soil indicates it needs more water .... that fact that you are working in so much shade ... means you can get away with planting it in august ... i wish i could convince you to go about half the size you like to buy.. 3 to 4 foot max ... but i see the pool and understand the goal .... john.. next to your name it says NONE ... if you could change that to close big city.. and do note.. sometimes it only shows on the original post.. i can quit asking you.. where you are ... i cant recall.. post to post ... its done on your members page ... as to repruning... in my world.. you can always go back.. next year... and do more ... you cant glue staple things back on.. if you get carried away ... as i said elsewhere.. start thinking in terms of tree years.. as compared to instant gratification.. when making decisions in regards to long lived plants ... read the link.. and lets narrow your questions down to simpler concepts ... ken Here is a link that might be useful: https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Techny is a quite dark green, dense, and mine are wide, about 1/2 of the height or a bit more. They are 10' high or perhaps a bit more having been planted from pots at around 4 1/2' after 1 fall/winter plus 8 full growing seasons. Other than the one chunk ripping off in very heavy snow that damaged many other plants, it has done well, including surviving many other heavy snows and ice unscathed. This will be their 10th winter. Here one is in mid-June after planting the previous October. The spiral trellises are 5'. Here's a photo of the same one last winter with the damaged branch splayed out to the right onto the same just visible spiral trellis which might be in the same spot. Sorry about the poor photo quality - I will see if I can get a better shot today, but it's difficult when snow is on the ground since the contrast is so high and I am a poor photographer at best.