Dont plant a solid row of like trees. Its like the front row of teeth in your mouth. If you lose one it will never look right. Mixed plantings are what are used in professional landscapes. Find some other evergreens to use with the green giants. Also keep in mind that using deciduous trees that have a wide spreading canopy and grow faster can mean faster shade. Your planting can incorporate some deciduous trees too for better and faster privacy.

I would agree with Quirky Quercus, plant a mixed barrier.

Do you want a line of trees that will end up, individually, 30-60' tall and 12-20' wide? If you plant a double row of 'Green Giants', then the area you should give to the depth of the planting should be a minimum of 20', with enough space to handle another 10' or so, since no-one can guarantee mature width and height. What are you trying to hide or do you just want a barrier for privacy - how large/long an area do you want to plant? You might do better, if your total property is not measured in acres (8 acres plus) to use a smaller tree - Thuja 'Emerald Green' looks much the same as 'GG', but matures at less than 20-25'. There are a number of evergreen cultivars (both conifers and broadleaf trees) that will mature at 20-30', and might give a better look down the road. If you decide to mix them up, then let the forum know, if you want suggestions - you can also do a search for evergreen hedges, privacy plantings and the like, as there have been any number of posts in the past year on the subject. Of course, if you do need a tree that will be 50-60' tall in 30-60 years, then plant away - 'GG' should be at least 30-40' in 20 years.

If you plant 3-gal. 'Green Giant' trees (about 18-30" tall) it should take about 6-8 years for them to get to touching distance, so a double, staggered row would be best, planted on 6-8' centers, to give a more rapid blockage in about 3-5 years - 8-10' centers would be better for the future health of the tree. If you want faster height, you can opt for bigger trees (7- to 15-gal.), but it will still take about the same amount of time, as bigger trees will take longer to settle in and start to grow. As well, they will be that much more expensive. As you can see, it is dependent on a few factors - how big an area you want to plant, hos quickly you need a barrier, what size you really need the barrier to be, and how much money can you spend?

Don't forget that you will need to water these trees (whatever gets planted) for at least 2 years (unless you get lots of weekly rain), so arranging for that, whether as a temporary measure or a permanent set-up, should also be planned for.

Do not over water if planting in clay soil.

Water every day if planting in sandy soil.

I live in Middle Tennesse (zone 6-7) and am considering either Green Giant or Emerald Green trees as a privacy screen. Does anyone know how early in the year I can plant them? I need privacy asap. Also, we had an extremely dry summer last year, will the Green Giants and/or Emerald Greens be okay as long as I water them every other day? My soil is very rocky (there's a quarry near my home if that gives you any indication).
Thanks in advance for the advice!

Stormytuesday:

Now would be a great time to plant them! Get small container grown trees. A 1 gallon Green Giant will likely surpass a 10 gallon Green Giant planted in the same conditions at the same time in just a few years (less transplant shock).

Be careful about overwatering. Every other day might be too much unless you have really well draining soil. Check your soil (at a couple of inches deep) to get a better feel for how often to water.

Thanks brandon7!

I share a 100 ft property line with my neighbor that is completely flat and so we look right into each other's yards. There are about 3 decent sized deciduous trees along that line, so those will help to break up the row of conifers.

Next question-if I plant Emerald Greens along that line, how far apart should I space them? I'm starting to think the Green Giants might get a lot bigger than I need. The total backyard is 100' x 55' so I don't want to overwhelm me or my neighbors.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

stormy .... very simply.... YOU WATER THEM WHEN THEY NEED WATER .... insert finger to second knuckle... if tip wet.. do NOT water.. if tip dry water ... roots need water... it has little to do with eyeballing the surface.. which will have 3 or 4 inches of mulch anyway ... it is an art that involves a dirty finger ... it is NOT a science ... not a calender thing ...

my 4 foot emerald greens are 5 foot 6 years later ..

my 6 inch GGiants are 14 feet 6 years later.. research the annual growth rates of any tree you want to plant.. and if well tended.. the second or third year later.. they will grow at that rate for the rest of your life ....

once you have the growth rate... you will understand how many years it will take to fill the space between 2 plants ... e.g. if they grow a foot a year... and they are 5 feet apart tip to tip .. it will take 2 years adjusting.. and then 4 to 5 years to join up ...

zig zap ... a straight line is boring.. depth of vision is better .. to me anyway..

good luck

ken

Hi tbox,

Check out this thread.....

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/conif/msg0518594527603.html

Lots of info there. I have already asked many of the questions you may ask IF you decide to go with TGG

I live in Zone 4 so I have many issues you probably will not have to deal with.

Some pics are there too.

Good Luck and
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene in Wyoming
{{gwi:327659}}

{{gwi:327661}}

Thanks for the info on these threads. I have no experience in gardening. I'd appreciate it if you can answer some questions:

Privacy is my main concern.

1. Should I get the largest size possible? I was searching for the biggest Green Giant trees I can find, and I could find some places that sell 20 and 30-gallon sizes. I read here that it might not be wise to get the big sizes. Would they grow 4-5 feet/year as advertised?

I want privacy ASAP, and this is why I want to plant fast-growing and ever green trees. I need to cover an area of 24-32 feet next to the fence. I have 3feet space of soil between the fence and the concrete.

Can I plant a bunch of green giant trees say 4-feet apart to get them to grow fast? Will join soon? Should I get the biggest size possible since the fence is already 8feet high?

thanks,
Shauki

Shauki,
Generally smaller trees (say 5 gal size)establish quicker and often outgrow the bigger trees by year 2 or 3.
My 5'tall/5 gal Cedar Elm hit 10' by end of 3rd summer. The 15 gal/8' Cedar Elm planted at same time is still 8'. It has not yet "established", whereas the 5 gal tree has.
My one TGG is growing about 1'/yr. so far, but that will probably pick up as tree becomes better established. The 4-5' growth advertised is probably only under optimum conditions and probably will not come first year or two after transplanting.

Shauki, planting them closer together MAY make them grow taller - and narrower - and MAY make the mature height taller. BUT, it will also possibly make them less full at the base, since shading out of lower branches tends to make the lower branches die off. Unless you are planting a grove of trees and trying to mimic nature, you will do best, in the long run, to plant something like GG, which matures at 30-50' x 10-20', at a spacing which is the narrower width. Using that as your criterium, you would space GG's at about 9-10' on center if you want them to touch only as they are almost mature, and at 4-6' on center if you want them to touch sooner. The nice thing about a double, staggered row is that the second row blocks the gaps in the first row, quicker than a single row will grow, so you can plant at the wider widths and have healthier trees down the road, as they will be less crowded.

Thank you again.

Given that I only have 3' from concrete to fence, I guess I can not plant staggered row. Is this true? Otherwise, I would do this.

I do care about them touching early on, so I'll follow the recommendation and plant them at 4' apart.

As for the size of the trees, I take it I would be better off w/ 5-gallon size. The problem is if the tree is is only 5' tall, and may be 2' of that 5' will be underground, then I would not expect I will be able to reach 14feet high in 2-3 years. Does this make sense?

Thanks for the help, and if you have any further comments, I'd love to hear them.

Regards

One more thing to the above message.

Any recommendation on a vendor whom you had a good experience with. From searching on the web, all vendors for GG that I could find are outside California.

Will TBG grow in a blue marle type soil. We need the trees for a site break between two house. Does anyone have any other suggestions for trees plants in this type soil. Trees will be plantsd on about a 20-30% slope. We live in Virginia.

I don't think it's silly to plant thujas in a straight row at all. I just planted 18 2-foot green giants to create a path to my patio. I was inspired by the photo attached and if there's a chance I can accomplish a similar look, to me it's worth the $250. Professionally landscaped properties are nice, but professional landscapers (with a few exceptions) often lack a vision. So plant it the way you want it and create the magical garden of your dreams. If lower branches die, stick a hydrangea in front of it, your garden should tell a story, not be stiff...