Well I ordered some online about 3 years ago.. they were 1 ft tall. Out of 50, the rabbits decided to let me keep about 7 of them.(Grrrrr! where is Elmer Fudd when you need him!) They were chewed right to the ground.

Anyway, the remaining 7 are now maybe 18 inches tall and just starting to fill out and grow. I think it takes a while for them to actually get going (like a couple years).

And it's true... they ARE deer resistant.... just NOT bunny resistant! lol

Oh boy, sorry to hear that. Where online did you get them?
What kind of soil conditions do you have? It seems 3 years to get established is kind of long?
I'm not in a rush to have 20' plants, but I'm hoping in 4-5 years they can be maybe 10'?

Oh well, I guess I'll take a shot at the one gallon ones that are about 18" to start.

Mine from Botany Shop are supposed to be here in a few days. I can judge the quality then.

+oM

Yes, very disappointing thus far. But the slow growth I do attribute partly to our poor clay & shale soil... although I believe the Green Giants were advertised as not being picky about particular soil types. Who knows, maybe this is the year I will see them shoot up. What type of soil do you have there? Perhaps they will do better for you.

I forget the place where I ordered them 3 years ago, but they did arrive very well packed and very healthy. However, if I were to do it again, I'd definitely go with the larger ones (1 gal. or larger).

I actually just found a 4 ft. GG at a local nursery, and it sort of followed me home... (and now I just have to find the right place to plant it!).

+oM, What size did you order? I have heard good things about Botany Shop.

Actually, my older son is handling that part of our tree order. I think he went with 18-24". While on their site, he noticed the Dawn Redwoods too, so now we're getting a few of them also.

These are going up on our land which has a sandy, clay-loam soil. Very good stuff. This is quite far north though. We'll see how this stuff does up there. The main planting for this spring is one hundred Norway spruce.

+oM

Botany Shop has received rave reviews on this forum over and over again. They seem to have quality.

Dax

2002 ... 2 inch peat pot .... 4 inch rooting ... botany shop

took them about 4 years to get enough roots down.. to start growing.. like the weeds they are .... pure sand ... drip irrigation ... no fert.. no amendments ..

here they are in 2008 ... ken
{{gwi:683713}}

That's awesome.

Dax

to clarify ... drip irrigation ended 2 years ago.. free range.. once they started growing like weeds ....

ken

VERY awesome indeed! Hey Ken, do you (or have you) ever sheared them? They are such a PERFECT shape!

sheared 50 GG's ... no ...

full sun ... spaced properly ... they are taking care of biz by themselves ...

i have removed duplicate leaders ...

and there is one retard that has about 10 leaders .... and i just dont know what to do about it ....

ken

"and there is one retard that has about 10 leaders .... and i just dont know what to do about it ...."

Take cuttings! ;^)

+oM

Our Botany Shop order arrived today. 7 trees all boxed up and packed with circus peanuts. Good condition for live trees being sent a few hundred miles in a box in a truck.

Both the Dawn redwoods and the GG's were already in growth mode. I'm slightly concerned about that, as we're far behind Missouri in terms of weather. The earliest to green out plants-things like prunus, populus, etc. are just starting to leaf out up here. But even looking as far ahead as May 15, the long-range forecast shows no sub-freezing temps........at present;^)

+oM

leave them inside the garage ... watered [if they need it] but not sodden ... until last frost gone..

unpot.. unwind roots or sever if necessary ...

plant at will ...

no fear.. gods work.. just do it..

i have faith tom... worry all you want.. but i know you can do it. really no need to worry ...

ken

PS: its not the frost i would worry about.. its the fact that they are coming from a greenhouse [presumably].... and the worry that they are NOT properly hardened off ... that is the key .. IMHO ...

Hi Ken

I took them out of the box immediately yesterday, and have them sitting outside. The weather here is very "soft", that is, cool and moist. They'll not suffer a bit by being out in it. You're comments about them coming from a greenhouse are right on. This is, in fact, the case.

Nevertheless, they're going to their ultimate home on Sat. Or their finally resting place, as the case may be;^) We're not gonna dilly-dally with these few plants. I wish my hundred N. spruce would have arrived this week, but now, it appears they'll get here next Tues. Oh well. The land's only an hour fifteen away.

+oM

wisconsitom,
What size did you order? Was it the 18" to 24"?
I need 10 for now, I need a size that is not too big that shock will hold back the growth too long. Also, not too small where bunnies may attack, or just plain old take too long to grow.

I have about a 60' strip in the rear left part of my yard behind the leach field that I want to screen out due to the inconsiderate contractors who hawked every tree for saw mill and cord wood. When making the driveway for the house behind us which we cannot see, they opened up the entire area so I can see 2 other neighbors. I have about 60' * 25' where I can stagger 2 rows (6 and 4) and still leave all trees about 8 feet apart.

{{gwi:683714}}

I'm hoping in 5 years I can have some trees that will block out at least the boat and lower part of the house.

I am going to order soon.

Thanks

egghead2004

Order with confidence! The GG's we got were 18"-24" inchers, and very nice little plants. The root systems were not TOO fully developed to the point of circling around in the pot, etc. Just right actually.

Also got a few Dawn Redwoods from Botany Shop. Nice plants as well, but being larger, and I presume, a bit older than the GG's, there was much circling roots and such in the pots. Proved difficult to straighten to any meaningful extent. That's the trouble with potted stock. But I think you will find the 18"-24" GG's just right. And once established, they are said to have a fast rate of growth.

+oM

I have about 18 that I planted 2 or 3 years ago (my husband says 3 years, I say 2 LOL). They have had no watering other than rain since there wasn't an easy way to get water out there and then the drought here has put a stop to any watering. I lost one, the last in the row, but I think it is because it ended up in the shade. They haven't really grown at all, but are holding on. I'm hoping this is the year for them. I'm trying to block a view of a tennis court and am now second guessing my choice and thinking I should have gone with Leylands.
I'll take a pic this aft.
Annette

hey annie

IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT YOUR CHOICE IS.. IF YOU DONT WATER THEM ... ON TOP OF SOME RECOLLECTION THAT.. oops ... most of GA was in total drought for the last year or two ...

seems like it would be hard to fault the trees ...

as long as they are alive.... there is hope ..

ken

Ken, hey to you, too. I was going to send you a message from the hosta threads, but thought it more polite to post here LOL.
Yep, the drought caused many issues. My GG are planted in our lower field which is technically flood plain along a creek called "Sandy Cooper" so I am lucky that it is a bit wetter than the norm and the red clay is broken up by a good bit of sand. Luckily they have lifted the watering ban and are allowing some watering, which is better than none.
I am just starting into the world of conifers and really know nothing except that I like them. Is fertilizing with evergreen spikes a good or bad idea? Now that I can water again I'd like to help them out.
Annette

jeez annie ....

YOU WILL GET AS MUCH VALUE FROM SPIKES.. IF YOU JUST SEND ME THE MONEY AND SKIP THE SPIKES ...

worthless .. in the opinion of most here ...

trees ... conifers ... shrubs.. NEVER NEED FERT ... given a proper soil ...

a soil test will tell you what is lacking in your soil .. fix the soil.. and the plants will take care of the rest ..

that said .. a little of this or that isnt going to be a problem ... a lot of trees.. in the lawn .. get all they need from the fert applied to the lawn ... just dont fert too late ... you want tree slowing down into dormancy .. not growing fast in late fall ...

fert'ing a tree that is struggling.. is usually worse than ignoring them ...

just water deeply .. and infrequently ... insert finger and all that stuff ...

ken

There ARE cases where fertilizing conifers can be of value. In your case, I'd not mess with it now. Water is much more crucial.

But the main point I want to make is that the spikes are just a bad idea regardless. I can't believe they're still being sold.

Later, like several years from now, if the plants are already happy and doing well, you may wish to moderately boost their growth with fertilizer. If this should come to pass, please, simply spread/sprinkle the material on the soil or mulch surface, and water in. There is no justification for any other method. Do be judicious though. Less is more;^)

+oM

Interesting thread . . . has anyone had experience or knows if GG's can be planted close together and clipped into formal hedge lines similar to a Yew hedge in the UK? I have been looking for a shrub that can replace the Hicks Yew that doesn't fair well in the Southeast sun and heat (I live in central NC).

Wjg

You could grow a sheared hedge with GGs. But eventually, you'll be fighting a losing battle to keep the upper portions the way you want them to be. This plant wants to be tall.

I don't know enough about southern gardening to make a good alternate recommendation

+oM

HEY Ken,

You placed a pic in your post of 4/29/08 on this thread. Very nice GGs. Could you please tell me your spacing on that row??

Egghead2004,

I got my GGs from Burgess.com They were garaunteed to grow for a year. They came as just cuttings with little stringy roots, in plastic bags, no soil. I am now on the third batch and third year, but it seems that this time I didn't kill them. You can check out the whole story and see the progress of this endevor here

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/conif/msg0518594527603.html?28

Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene in Wyoming

I think the Green Giant is a great tree, just don't by it from thujagardens.com. The trees they send are about 1/4 the size of the tree they show in there sample picture. The Better Business Bureau give them a giant F with a warning. Look them up at the BBB by their phone number. I support the tree. I just don't want anyone to make the same mistake I made. I think the Green Giant is a great tree, just don't by it from thujagardens.com. The trees they send are about 1/4 the size of the tree they show in there sample picture. The Better Business Bureau give them a giant F with a warning. Look them up at the BBB by their phone number. I support the tree. I just don't want anyone to make the same mistake I made. I am trying to spread the word. Has any one else been cheated by this company. They will not answer email or phone messages after you pay.

I got my 35 GG's (18-24" in quarts, they were all 30" tall above the pot!) from the Botany Shop. Not a bad thing to say about them at all.(The trees or the Botany Shop. LOL)
I got some of their "Nanjing Beauties" in peat pots, as a test, and they all died, but then I didn't expect them to survive as soon as I saw them. They were bronzed badly right out of the box. I may try again, as they are very interesting trees to look at in the pics.

My GG's are all doing very well. I planted them after 3 weeks in the garage when the frosts finally let up, in sandy clay with Osmocote 14-14-14 on half as recommended by the Shop, and the other half I used evergreen plant stakes. I guess I wasted my money on the Plant stakes, after doing some reading here, but they are all doing great, with 6" inches so far in the last month alone, and all are starting to spread out. LOL