Do some reading folks. This question comes up every other day. Seriously. Try 5 feet for thick screen. That's my guess. First poster, try 7 feet. Dax There has to be a million web searches that list proper spacing:):):) )))

Hello EVERYONE!!! It has been a long winter here in Wyoming. I am posting today to get some more helpfull input on these trees I am trying to get growing in my yard. We had a very cold snap in early November and a blizzard came through and burried most of the trees in snow drifts. The drifts stayed all winter long. The last little pieces of ice dissappeared about 2 weeks ago. As the snow melted, I could see that, not only the exposed parts of the trees had turned a rusty brown, but all of the trees' branches had also turned. I noted that at the very bottom of all the trees, there was some green. I am not sure if this green was frozen into the tree or if had begun to come back from brown. After a couple weeks, watering on only the warmest days, I cannot determine if the green I am seeing is increasing, or if I am just, hopefully, optimisticly observing. I am beginning to think that maybe they did NOT survive the Wyoming winter AGAIN. :-( These latest pics were taken on March 16... Do you think these trees are dead??? I think I am noticing more and more green, BUT if I am seeing that, it is happening VERY slowly. As stated before, I may just be hoping to see more green and therefore, I am. I will take more pics in late April and compare. Any green that I do see is limited to the bottom and nearer the trunk. I have also noted just today, that at the base of the trunk, on all trees, the "bark" has split vertically, 4 to 6 inches up from ground level. Is this a bad sign??? Any opinions you experienced guys have to offer is greatly appriciated!! Here's the pics......

Monch I suspect from your post that you may have ordered them from Botany Shop. If so, you can expect some nice plants. We bought 3 from them. Here's a bit of info on my experience thusfar: First, ours are planted in Oconto County, about 150 miles north of where you are. They were mixed in with 100 Norway spruce seedlings in what is the beginning stage of a tree plantation we're starting. Since they were planted, there have been quite a few nights where the temps there fell near to or below the freezing mark. Good amounts of rainfall as well as a couple supplementary waterings have occurred. Much windy weather too. What looked like possibly new growth has browned up a bit. We caged 1 for deer and the other 2 are unprotected. There hasn't been any browsing on these 2 yet, but this time of year, the deer have plenty of other stuff to eat. We have procured additonal caging material, and will install that before next winter. Like everyone in the upper Midwest, this spring has been a bit cooler than average. While that has delayed the development of top growth on our young trees, I think it is probably beneficial in the long run, especially to their root establishment. I think you will have no undue difficulty with these GG's. They should not be fussy trees at all, esp. in your zone. I've been to Minors and saw theirs. Very nice plants. (My older son, who is a partner with me at the tree farm lives in Milwaukee). I'd not mess with burlap or any other special protection. If a tree needs that, I think it best to move on to some other variety. Also, if the GG's do thrive, they will soon be too tall for this anyway. Just ensure moist soil. If, during a given one-week period, there is heavy rainfall, you'll probably not need to water. The only exception would be if it was very hot and windy. As I mentioned earlier, we've not been plagued by those conditions yet this year;^) Good luck........+oM

I have zero tolerance for burlapping plants to get them through winter. In my world, that's a plant not worth bothering with. What I'm saying is, these will green up just fine-don't worry about that. Coffee grounds are a fine addition to compost heaps and the like. A few sprinkled around plants which ultimately will become large beings is insignificant in any direction. Someone was probably relating the false narrative that GG's being conifers require acidic soils. That's not true of genus Thuja, which is what these plants are a part of, nor will a few coffee grounds sprinkled about have any meaningful impact on soil pH....even if that did matter, which it doesn't in this case.