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!

scotjute: Sorry to take so long to get back but I was waiting for an email notification. The TGG has been in the ground for 3 weeks and seems to be holding it's own. It was trucked in from Oklahoma and took 4 days by UPS. It has a 3/4 inch trunk but there are 2 other 1/4 inch stems coming up from the root ball. Using the soaker hose it gets 18 gallons (2 hours) about every 3-4 days. The temp now runs about 98-104F and the last meaningful rain is a distant memory. (6-8 weeks.) We get most of our rain in July and August during the Monsoon season. About 1/3 of the leaf tips have a yellow tinge to them but like motownnj above I don't know if it's stress or something else. In your opinion, am I giving it too much water? I only soak it when the cheapo moisture meter, my finger and the wooden dowel think it's time. There is 3 inches of Composted Mulch on top which in this climate dries out quickly!

I planted one GG last year in Z8 Texas with drought of about 23" of rain for the year, no growth visible. This year is much wetter, and it has grown about 6". My impression is that it will do ok here once established but will not provide the advertised 3-4 ft. yearly growth. We have several 5 yr. old Leyland Cypress that suffered die-back and we watered to save those remaining. Saw several Leyland die last year in other settings around here. 23" rainfall is insufficient for them. Don't think they will survive well with much less than 32"/yr. How much rainfall do y'al get? Have you considered Arizona Cypress or Eastern Red Cedar? They are both able to survive on 23" of rainfall and make a nice screen.

there is normal winter bronzing on my GG... up here in the great white north .... i am presuming that is not what you are talking about.. a picture would sure help define such ... but.. with evergreens.. as the name implies.. they are always green .. and i swear.. even for a period after they are dead.. up here.. that can be nearly a year ... if yours definitely are showing a TOTAL dulling .. you can just tell they are 'off' .. then i would suggest they are not long for this world.. if not already dead ... and they may stay sickly looking.. until the heat returns next spring/summer.. when they will finally turn all brown ... if you are saying.. there is sporadic brown spots.. we need a picture ... check out the link ... only time will tell ... but presume the worst.. if in fact they are dead.. or near dead... then the manure will not do anything.. and in fact.. may hasten it all ... i appreciate your searching for old posts.. but this topic would have been better served in anew post.. with its own searchable title.. because it has to do with potential death. rather than this topic title.. of just planted... regardless.. post wherever it makes you happy ... good luck oh.. BTW... i would not go too large on replacements... large transplants can be very tricky to get going.. and a smaller one.. will get moving faster and easier.. and 'catch up' ... rather than struggle and linger for years ... in my world.. warped as it is.. a few off size plants.. lends an interesting variation on the group.. rather than requiring soldier like perfection .... ken here is a pic of mine.. which were 4 inch rooted sticks 11 years ago ... they dont grow quite as fast up here.. especially with 4 months of frozen ground Here is a link that might be useful: link