I also have seen reports that 'Smaragd' Emerald Green do not go brown in the winter. There are some other arborvitae cultivars which are reported to brown in the winter. That person may have gotten the Emerald greens confused with those cultivars. It, also, could be that in your area the Smaragds get so stressed in the winter that they do turn brown. I have a screen of thuja 'Green Giants' which all winter stay a nice color for me situated on the north side of our neighbor's two story house. But my friend has a 3 foot high row of the same cultivar of my trees planted along the south side of her 7 foot tall privacy fence. Her trees while they were trying to get established did change color last year. Not exactly brown, but more of a burgundy shade. They greened back up the following spring and summer, and we are still waiting to see if hers will stay green over the coming winter.

my flowering plum NEVER produced plums...so be done with that idea.. if such was important.. nobody in their right mind will recommend nor plant a pear ... forget that ... crabapple feeds... but has some disease problems.. IF!!! ... you do not pick resistant ones .... i will leave it to others for suggestions ... but the reason i write.. is that i got about 250 of my 500 conifers.. MAIL ORDER ... mostly because.. thru trial and error.. i found good sellers... and there is no reason. your GW friends.. cant lead you to reputable mail order firms ... so find something really cool.. dont just get something green... to fill a space ... find something that will feed your bird friends.. and then search the universe.. to find a variegated version... that watchdog site should also help you with sellers reps... finally.... in z5.. fall or spring planting.. we dont mail order.. nor plant in august.. in my z5 world anyway ... ken Here is a link that might be useful: i really like these people personally ... saybrook OH ... browse thru.. and lets talk about things that attract your attention .....

No one can advise you because we do not know your zone or soil conditions.

5 years is not much time for a tree to get going.. in tree time ... so its more of an investment thing.. rather than instant gratification ... what size are you thinking.. planting yourself ..etc .. facing south in OH isnt much info ... if you have that famous OH clay ... see link about dealing with such ... are you down near columbus??? .. OH is quite diverse.. north to south.. east to west ... narrow it down for us ... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub