alright Kimcoco, sounds like you are determined to plant a Thuja Green Giant in your space. Then here is a closer response to the advice you requested. Green Giant grows by sending up a thin shoot with very sparce branching, then takes time to fill-in as the season progresses to the fall. By the fall the new growth will have filled out moderately and another new shoot will grow from the top. That is once the tree has developed and established enough root system, which can support its above ground structure. What will that mean to you? It means no real privacy for you for at least 5 years or more after planting the tree. That is unless you plant a 12 to 15 foot field grown Thuja that was balled and burlaped. Such a tree and the crew to plant it could end up being quite expensive. A solution to that issue would be for you to obtain the tallest Sport cultivar of the Thuja Green Giant that you can afford. I mean the Thuja 'Steeplechase' sport cultivar of Green Giant. this sport would benefit you in the following two ways. One: Steeplechase's top growth is considerably more filled out and consistant with the overall look of the tree's older growth on it's lower trunk, when compared to Green Giant Two: This Steeplechase cultivar still grows big enough for your expressed needs, but would not need as much pruning as the green giant would need. I mean, because the Steeplechase cultivar is reported to not grow quite as tall and is reported to spread only 6 - 8 feet instead of the 12 feet that is the Green Giant's reported potential. If you still want to plant the Green Giant, please realize that if you plant a 6-10 foot tall one at the start, the tree could take at least 5 years to establish its root system well enough to begin showing the great growth rates reported with this tree, and when it starts that growing each initial seasonal growth shoot will be very thin and will offer no extra privacy. until maybe the same time in the following year. One good thing that Green Giants growth pattern will do for you is that such a growth dynamic while not being good for privacy issues, it is good for making easier the top pruning you would have to do to keep the tree within the height range that you desire for it to not exceed. As far as the spreading issue goes, this tree has the potential to spread 12 feet. How do you plan to keep that within bounds. I ask that because I have seen Green Giant trees hyper-focus their growth power to spreading faster when whatever has prevented the tree from reaching it's height potential. By spreading faster, I mean the trunk thickens massively, and so do the branches this makes the tree spread out and look very stout. That would make pruning away the spead much more difficult. But above all please do not take a hedge clipper to this tree. Such a pruning job would end up producing such a disappointment in how the tree over all appears. Thats because, then it's fan shaped leaf needles loose their draping beauty, and cause the branches to increase density to the point where the tree hardly retains any of the beauty, which it naturally would display.

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.

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......

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.