I live in S Cen PA, York County, and I don't think it is OK to plant these weeds in any season. For the record, conifers are generally better planted in the late winter or early spring because a windy dry winter can burn them. Now that we have that out of the way, I'll say why I think that way. They are prone to canker and bagworms. I've seen trees with one canker diesese, and they are as ugly as home made sin when it hits. They are way overplanted, and they will take up more room than the typical homeowner who plants them has. Imagine a circle 25 ft. (or more)in dia where nothing will grow except for this one tree. That is what you are getting. If the need is for all season blocking of a neighbor who has junk in his yard, go for it. But if it is for privacy while you are sitting having your morning coffee, then a deciduous tree might do, because it is unlikely you will be outside sipping joe in January. This will give you many more options. There are a good many evergreens tailored to smaller spaces (assuming less than one acre here) that grow fairly fast. Some will grow almost as fast as that thug you are considering and will leave room for something besides one tree. I really hope that before you dig the hole you will post on the Conifers Forum with specifics about the size of the space you have. Most of them also visit here, but get juiced up on their own turf.

The 'Green Giant' hybrid does not look like typical examples of the native species. This is not a subtlety, young, vigorously growing specimens can be easily picked out among other arborvitaes prevalent in nursery yards. It reminds me of more coarse cultivars of eastern arborvitae such as 'Aureospicata'. Of course, many people hardly notice differences between generally similar plants. But we are talking about something a gardener is trying to do. Incense cedar is quite slow to develop and quite a dominating, vivid green - but the latter is a concern primarily when attempting to use it as a backdrop for other plants. Also quite aromatic. Narrowness varies with location, same as other cypress family conifers such as Leyland, which can be seen both as a very narrow and as a very broad plant in different sections of Puget Sound. In Britain it has been observed that incense cedar is usually columnar near the west coast and broader toward the eastern areas. A planted specimen in Tacoma was determined to have an average crown spread of 49' when 104' tall.

Thanks Jordin and John, I will try to check for Thuja. one I have seen in big box stores (thuja arbarative) are suppose to be growing as big as leyland cypress. I planted two layaland cypress. I am planning to plant one or tow other ones. I will look for Thuja plicate steeplechase. How is Juniper keteleri (Chinese juniper). Looks like it is also going to grow like Thuja placate steeplechase (5'-6' wide and 25' tall). I have planted 2 leyland cypress like this.

Hi, I have planted 2 Leyland cypress plants to get some privacy. One is died. I am planning to replace it with same plant. Then I am noticing lot of similar plants along highways and other places in DFW. These are definitely not leyland cypress. These are upright and thick. Looks much nicer than Leyland cypress. Can someone help me to identify these plants. Is it better idea to get more of these instead of Leyland cypress. This is what I planted. But on of them is dead. What I am planning to get. But I do not know name. Any idea what is this plant? Looks like Savanna holly. But it is very dense.