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It sounds like your arborvitae trees will be jammed into a tight space, with too little room for their branches to spread until they reach the height of the garage. And in building the garage, you are likely to damage half their roots. I'd say bag the trees and paint a pretty landscape on the garage.

Yeah there will most likely be damage to the roots systems and cramming in them too close to a wall. Make the garage smaller and put it far away from the arborivtees.

And if that just isn't possible, I would suggest trellis and a couple of vines near (not ON) the garage wall, or else follow Pinetree's suggestion and paint a mural on the wall. The arborvitae will sustain root damage, and if they survive that, they will be very restricted.

Having plants (of any kind) right next to a building isn't a good idea anyway - you get bugs, mold, mildew and possibly the plants/branches rubbing on or lifting the siding or the roof. Much better to take them out now, when you have eaqsy access to them, rather than having to maneuver around the then tight quarters a few years after the garage is finished.

I will grant the remote possibility that the arborvitae may well survive and grow well, but it is pretty remote. And having the construction crew respect the trees just won't happen, what with heavy machinery for grading, fill-dirt dumping and subsequent compaction, as well as cement floor pouring, and putting up the walls next to the arborvitae. You will have a much happier crew if the trees aren't there.

Maryellen, most certainly the trees will be damaged, at the very least, their root systems. But..........I have seen trees take an enormous amount of abuse and still go on living. It's really up to you. If you do decide to retain the trees thru this garage project, you could spec that the roots be sawed neatly rather than ripped out by the backhoe. Then, with close attention to watering, they 'may' go on living. A setback for sure, but not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

+oM

it will be cheaper to have the ground prep peeps take them down during construction .. than to hire others to come back later and surgically remove. them ...

one or the other has to go .. either the arbs or the garage ....

these trees are too big to move...

if it were me.. and it just had to be done .. i would research propagation methods.. and root some new ones .... and build my garage ... and then properly replant the babes after the project is done ...

i am NOT an expert on propagation ... but i am pretty sure this time of year is the time to start ...

first you have to properly ID the plant ... collect the proper supplies.. and 'stick' your cuttings ...

you will not have 'new' plants ... you will simply have the same plant in much smaller form .. for a while anyway ...

a picture .. and some of these peeps will be able to ID it.. and get you started on your quest to regrow them ...

or get the ID and just replace them at the bigboxstore.. and consider it part of the garage building budget ...

sorry ... good luck

ken

This would be expensive but they sound like really nice
trees. Could you get an engineer to design a foundation
on pillars. Concrete or steel pillars would not
be as disruptive to the roots. The shade from the
structure might affect growth and cause lateral dieback (depends
which side the sun is coming from relative to the structure.
Anyway, they sound like nice specimens and although it seems
easy to rationalize starting over, it's always a shock to
see a small twig where a mature tree used to stand.