Thuja Green Giant Privacy Screening Project Advice
Comments (36)
duke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Advice on Thuja Green Giant
Comments (2)Thanks Scotjute. Yes, I would be interested in what others have to say. I looked up that cedar, and on the map it shows it being mostly in Canada or further north. Do you think it will grow well in northern Virginia? It gets hot here in the summer. Also, I am looking for a tree that grows fast! And also provides great screen. If you look in my photo, you can see that there is a different kind of tree (what is that, an evergreen?) on the right of the thuja giant greens. Those grow real well... I could just put 1-2 of those in to replace the sickly thujas, right?...See MorePlanting Thuja Green Giant Screen
Comments (2)Plant them on at least 6 feet centers. It would be even better, if you desire a faster privacy screen, to plant two staggered rows of them with each being planted on 8 or 10 feet centers, and the staggered rows with holes that are dug at least 6 feet between the front and back rows. Water them well, but if planting in a clay soil which is not elevated or otherwise draining well, monitor them closely to ensure you do not allow their roots to suffocate by sitting in too much water. Also do not let the roots dry out too much. While the trees are getting adjusted, do your best to keep the soil evenly moist, but not soggy. If you want to feed the trees do not use anything more strong than the slow release 4 month lasting, non-burning Osmocote. This fertilizer can even be mixed into the planting backfill soil without burning the roots. In October apply more osmokote by spreading it under the trees and gently scrape small amounts of the top soil and mix in the fertilizer. Also spread cedar mulch under the tree if your soil seems to dry out too quickly. If the trees become stressed and their needles growing on the lower branches begin to yellow, do not cut off those branches; not even if they begin to appear as though they have died. You can remove any dry needles you desire, but do not cut off any entire branches. Just like most arborvitae trees, Green Giants will not regrow any branches, which you cut further back than anywhere the needles have been growing out from. When any branches have appeared to die, take the time to determine if your tree needs less water, more water, or a better watering system. Once you correct the problem and the tree becomes happy again, it will begin to produce green needles again on those once dead appearing branches. Also do not let dogs urinate on any of your Green Giant trees. These trees will begin to die if a medium to large size dog has consistantly been allowed to use them as a place to urinate on at least for several weeks. If your trees are sheltered from the cold winter north and northwest wind, or if they do not receive too much winter direct sun, they might stay green all even all winter. Otherwise they could turn a redish or burnt brown color over the winter months. If this happens do not be alarmed, because once Spring temps warm and rains arrive they should green back up nicely. I have noticed that Green Giants which stay green year round seem to gain more growth height throughout the year. Green Giants which struggle by being planted in poorly draining situations, and or which turn red in the winter seem to grow much more slowly. If these manage to survive they will spread and grow thicker trunks and their top growth will be so slow that the trees stay fairly nicely filled out from top to bottom. The fast growing trees often begin to send up a growth shoot which appears much more sparce than the bottom parts of the tree. When this happens, if you give the tree a feeding of osmocote the trees will, over a short time, begin to fill out the top growth to be more in balance with the thickness of the lower, older developed part of the tree. Do not cut off any of the thin looking shoots that burst forth at the top of your trees. Each thin shoot which begins to grow out of the top of your trees is needed for the trees to grow taller....See MoreWayside's Thuja 'Green Giant in Huntsville? (Zone 7)
Comments (4)I bought two in 2004. They were already 4 feet tall when I bought them. So far, their circumference has doubled but their height has only increased 2 feet. The other legends are true; they are incredibly beautiful, hold their shape, smell wonderful, and require no maintenance. They are standing in dense, red clay and get SW sun. As far as the growth rate is concerned, I'm not so sure about the numbers. To see if location and soil makes a difference I bought another 4 footer and placed it in loamy soil on a mound with a little shade. As with everything involving gardening, time will tell....See MoreThuja Green Giant Privacy Screening Project Advice Part II
Comments (2)PROPER PLANTING IS THE KEY ... see link ... native soil.. proper depth.. different rules for clay ... PROPER watering.. FOR TWO YEARS ... nothing.. and i mean NOTHING is drought tolerant ON PLANTING ... a good course deep mulch ... 3 to 4 foot circle ..... 3 to 4 inches deep .... depending on how it settles ... no closer than 3 inches to the trunk ... and SINGLE LEADER TREES to start with ... insist on such from your seller ... these things will grow a foot or two per year once they get going .... in your zone ..... i would suggest.. no more than 3 foot tall plants .... and full sun ... soo... tree.. soil.. planting.. watering.. mulch.. that about covers it.. but for anything else said in that other post ... ken ps: you can be digging holes weeks prior to delivery .... once you have the plants.. it can be backbreaking to dig 15 holes while your plants are dying in the garage ... lol ... i would put them in a pail of water for no more than 24 hours.. just and inch or two at the bottom ... roots only ... and stuff some damp newspaper around the top.. to keep the roots in high humidity.. but not standing all in water .... if you cant plant immediately.. open box.. open plastic.. throw in some damp paper towel on the roots ... and lightly close the plastic.. in my z5.. you could keep them that way.. in the garage.. which this time of year in MI.. is just a giant refrigerator ... for a month .... as the cement floor is a heat sink until may ..... your goal is to keep them dormant as long as possible .. and best until planted ... ... which i hope musser insures on sending.. they have to be dormant ... pps: review my post on transplanting conifers.. its about halfway down page one ... you can skip the digging up part .... focus on he sticking in part ... the sand all fell off my plant.. so it was bare rooted by the time it hit the hole .... Here is a link that might be useful: link...See Moreduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoHere's an aerial view from Google Earth of the road I plan to eventually cover. You can see there are some wild bushes/brush there now that will have to be taken out.
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agogreenhaven
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agogreenhaven
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoYes, I do mean, more or less, staggering, but maybe slightly more randomly...like not bringing along your tape measure and getting exactly 8 feet on center. Also, say you start planting at the east end and work west (just for ha-has). Instead of working systematically in one direction, maybe plant five tree but a couple different sizes (and/or species like mentioned above) a hundred feet down. Then the next time you plant five trees plant them together but much further down the line. Then maybe your next planting will be closer to the start again. Fill in the gaps as you go, mix your sizes and/or species, and you will have a screen with a much more natural feel and allows, like you said, for replacing lost plants without the whole shebang looking wonky.
Yes, I learned those terms in school. :o)
I hope this makes sense. I will try to sketch something on Paint, but I won't get points for professionalism. ;o)
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
gardener365
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoHi everyone,
Since I last posted, I planted smaller 2.5 ft GG's with 8 ft spacing staggered 4 ft apart. I added about 2 in. of mulch around each tree. As of now, in addition to the 4 larger trees shown in the picture above, I have 47 smaller trees planted. The most recent planting was about a week and a half ago. My question is - should I be doing any type of prep work before winter comes? It does get pretty nasty up here in the winter. The trees are 29 ft from the road with a hedge barrier blocking them (I'll take the hedges out once the trees get time to mature.) I've heard that people wrap strips of burlap around the tree leaving some gaps in between the strips. I'm wondering if I should do that as well as add bamboo stakes?
What do you guys think?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agothetman
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agowisconsitom
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
ksc36
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agohlechat
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoin ny zone5
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoHey everyone, so it's May 1st and this is a picture of what my trees look like. I'm afraid they may have died from the winter and cold wind coming across the field. Does anyone think there are hopes for shedding and turning green again or do you think they're done for? Nothing has really bloomed yet up here.. as you can see by the hedges in the background.
If they're done for, I don't know what else I could have done... They all look like this and the first set I planted was around the beginning of June last summer so I think they had plenty of time to settle in before winter. I noticed around last October that they were starting to turn orange even before winter set in. These GG's are from three different places (5 footers from home depot, 5 three footers from a local nursery, and the remainder approx 2 footers from a nursery in Fairhope, Alabama and they all have the same problem with the small trees having been hit the hardest.
I have watered them once a week until the frost hit last winter but haven't started watering them yet, since it's been raining at least once a week and the ground has been moist. I'm wondering if I should put a fertilizer on them, like Holly Tone? Miracle grow? (A local nursery last summer suggested to use holly tone on GGs).
This post was edited by duke90 on Wed, May 1, 13 at 0:51
davidrt28 (zone 7)
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
11 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
katob Z6ish, NE Pa
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
11 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
bengz6westmd
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotrovesoftrilliums
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduke90
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agochjch
10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis