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!

Thanks to this forum, and a posting or two from Ken, I just spent 1.5 hours at big box store, looking at each and every Thuja Emerald (was going with the Giant but decided the scale, in my yard, would not work), I went with the smaller size, as recommended here, to let them habituate to the site, and grow faster. I went with the single leader plants, per above concerns (not to mention plain ol' good looks). Have to thank everyone who contributes here. You all made a big difference in one little life!!! :-) I will put a drip/soaker system in place, when they are in the ground, to ensure they get enough H20 their first year(s). Am a newbie, one day will have some specimens, am sure. Again, my gratitude, admiration, and tip of the hat to Ken and all posters.

I have heard that trimming the leader on a Green Giant will cause them to fill out more, but I have never tried it on the 16 that I planted. A deer destroyed 2ft of a 4ft one I didn't have caged last fall and I trimmed it hoping it puts out a new leader since they cannot grow in height without one. I never had a Green Giant become loose in the ground. When I plant one I make a 5 ft. circle removing all grass, then break up the ground and plant it in the center with the root ball even or slightly above the surface. I keep the circle mulched and keep increasing the diameter as the branches reach the edge which is about every two years or so and every time I do I find the roots already there. These roots compete directly with the grass and it's best to keep the grass away so the roots can move out further. Right now all of mine are solid in the ground and the circles on the largest ones are around 8ft.

During the Easter freeze of '07 after a month of summer-like temps the temp dropped into the upper teens on two nights, one of which had winds gusting to 35-40 MPH. My GGs had not started into growth yet. None made ANY new growth that year, they just stayed green. The following year they all grew away as normal. Leave your tree be until next growing season. If the leader dies cut it back to live wood and it will releader.