Best Fertilizer for Green Giant Arborvitae (Thuja Green Giant)

10 years ago

I have been planting the above over the last three years and plantings have amounted to 20 trees over 195 linear feet. I was reading directions on a bag on 10 10 10 fertilizer and the supplier indicated to fertilize at the rate of 1 to 1 1/2/lbs for evergreens and hedges per 100 sq. ft. My question is, how do I apply to the running foot? I do not want to over/under fertilize. Also, I just recently planted the last four trees and the balance, 16, were planted over the last three years. Is there a one year waiting period prior to fertilizing? I am relatively new to this, so, PLEASE HELP.
Is this the best fertilizer for this tree and fast growth?

Comments (5)

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
10 years ago
To be real scientific you need to have the soil tested. Otherwise it is kinda a crap shoot.

FWIW my neighbor just throws maricle grow on everything and it seems to work for him.

I don't fertilize anything because I am scared of growing a forty foot tree that needs me to fertilize it every year for eternity else it dies lol.
bajafx4
10 years ago
A friend of mine planted about 100 Green Giants about three years ago. They were about 18-24" tall when he planted them. Green Giants are pretty deer resistant, but where my friend and I live there are just too many deer in a small area (island) for that to mean much. The first year he planted these 100 Green Giants, the deer destroyed about 25 of them. After he replaced them, I recommended that he start using Milorganite fertilizer around the trees to keep the deer away. (It's an unadvertized fact that Milorganite acts as a deer repellent.) He started dumping Milorganite around the base of the trees on the perimeter of his property and the following year those were nearly 2ft. taller than the other trees (same growing conditions). Needless to say he started using it around all the Green Giants and this year some of the ones that he started using it on first are taller than me (6ft.).

I started using Milorganite on my lawn a few years ago to keep the deer away that were eating my plants and it did wonders for my lawn. I started dumping it around all my perennials, mixing it in with the potting soil for my annuals, and tilling it into my vegetable garden. Everything improved! The stuff is like the Frank's Red Hot commercial... I put that s*#& on everything!

I'm not sure it's the "best" fertilizer for your Green Giants, but it's definitely good. In the past I was always afraid to fertilize because I'd overdone it too many times and killed/burned too many plants and lawn. Milorganite is organic, so you can't really use too muich... it will just sit there on/in the soil until the soil microorganisms can consume it.

Good luck!
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Sara, while some pics would help, it doesn't sound to me as though any pruning needs to be done. A little tip browning is normal for all arbs and will be completely obscured by new growth later. Also, GGs have a strongly predetermined growth form. Any pruning done in this regard will, IMO, make them worse, not better. Now if there was to be a whole complete branch that died for some reason, that should be removed. but it doesn't sound to me like this is the case. As to fertilizing, if the trees are surrounded by turf that is receiving regular fertilization, the trees will be getting enough from that. Even where this is not the case, folks tend to want to overuse fertilizer on trees. Mostly, they don't need it. But.......a moderate dosing of some nitrogen could well speed up top growth on the plants. Just go very mellow with it, if at all. The GG grows so fast that there tends to be some space between branches where the stem has elongated. Please resist the tempatation to "fix" this. They will be just fine, filling in as side branchlets elongate and multiply over time. To me and many others, the best possible appearance with most conifers is achieved when we do nothing to alter it. Be patient and I think you will see this too. +oM
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While I'm not ascribing this to you, Brandon, I just don't want to leave folks with the mistaken (in my opinion) belief that optimal nutrient levels across a wide spectrum of landscape plants-not turf grasses, and def. not corn and soybeans-I always use those because they cover million of acres and have been studied to death-are necessarily known or understood, and more importantly, that there is any practical way to apply said knowledge even if it did happen to exist....and first and foremost, that the nitrogen problem easily eclipses this whole deal, in that that nutrient is never measured in any but the most high-falutin soil analysises, and immediately after said measurement would have theoretically been made, the value would have changed anyway. And that that is significant because despite all the hoopla about some magic elixir of micronutrients (yes, occasionally important), it is nitrogen that is the limiting factor in virtually every system. And we don't know a dern thing about it! As I said much earlier, one way to make the determination that some nutrient or other is "in short supply" is to add it to the system and then observe a growth response. But where that falls down is the fact that virtually every system could see a growth response if N is added. We know better-both of us-than to think that this "proves" that N was lacking. And further, we both know that adding N can lead to problems. I just don't want folks to read something here and then think there's some idealized spot on the continuum for these various nutrients, when in fact, it is the entirety of that continuum that is "the sweet spot". Plants have had to deal with this forever, and they do so very well. +om
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Osmokote is a slow release non burning fertilizer which does wonders for the the Thuja Plicata 'Green Giants' and its more recently marketed 'Steeplechase' sport cultivar. In my area better nurseries and local box stores like Lowes and Home Depot sale the Osmokote granuals. Osmokote works so well for the Green Giants, because Green Giants put up a thin shoot of growth in the spring and again in the fall, at which times the tree takes a while to fill in, unless it gets the help of the non-burning Osmokote type of fertilizers. Most trees, which do not have the potential to grow as fast a 'Green Giants,' usually do produce enough food for themselves from the sun exposure on their leaves. I usually do not fertilize my trees for this very reason, and at first I only used the Osmokote in the planting hole when I planted my Thuja plicata 'Green Giants.' three years ago, and they did grow and survive, but by the second year I realized they needed the Osmokote for quicker and better filling in at the top where they had most recently sent up new growth. I ended up using the Osmokote because I had first planted only 1 foot tall, three gallon sized potted trees; which I wanted to quickly grow large and taller than the neighbor's crumbling privacy fence that I wanted to screen. Now that the trees are filled out nicely and are about 12 feet tall, I no longer care how fast they grow, so do not fertilize them any more, and they seem to be doing just fine. Maybe early on I encountered this issue, due to the large amount of builder's sand, on top of which the builder evidently had just covered with a few inches of better top soil, instead of first removing the excess sand from that area.
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I think many conifers grow very slowly. Pine trees are the exception. They grow very fast. You may consider those, but they are wayyyyyy more than 20ft. Another fast growing conifer is the Witchita Blue Juniper. It will get 4-8 ft wide and 15-20 ft tall. If you plant them, make sure to plant 4 feet next to each other. It can be used as a screen or a windbreak and will need no pruning. It also has appealing color. Goodluck with what ever you choose.
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brandon7 TN_zone7
10 years ago
I want to feed vitamin and mineral pills to a friend of mine. I know nothing of his current diet, nutritional needs, or eating habits, but have just decided to feed him some pills. Can you please tell me which pills and how many pills to feed him per day?
lou_spicewood_tx
10 years ago
Brandon,

I'll play with that game...

Vitamin D deficiency is widespread problem. Solution? 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day. No testing needed. The chances are that you're already deficient in it anyway. The reason? Sunblock lotion, Sun Scare and ridiculously low recommended daily amount (just 600 IU a day).

Ok. I'm done with that game! ;-)
brandon7 TN_zone7
10 years ago
OK Lou,

Upon your recommendation, I asked my friend how much vitamin D he was getting. He estimates 4500 IU/day. I told him you still recommended more. He was worried about something called toxicity, but I told him that you had assured me he would be fine with 9500 IU/day or even more.

Brandon

ps.... You can't ask your plants how much of any nutrient they are getting, but you can look for signs and get a soil test if you believe there is a need for additional fertilizer.

Best Fertilizer for Green Giant Arborvitae (Thuja Green Giant)

Comments (5)

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis

bajafx4

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