If I understand correctly, this 80' row of emerald green arborvitae would be 'sandwiched' in a long, 2 foot wide row bordered by a 1 foot higher retaining wall behind, and a 2 foot drop-off by retaining wall before them. Or something like that. Consider that with a big drop-off retaining wall, during dry times you may have to do quite a bit of supplemental watering, since I assume ground water will drain out that retaining wall pretty fast. I'm not familiar with how moist your soil stays in summer. But if you ever have droughts, especially during the first couple of years getting established, get reading for a water bill. I might be tempted to 'mix it up a bit,' either with a few golden arborvitae forms here and there (e.g.: yellow ribbon arborvitae comes to mind, but there are others), a couple of Boulevard false cypress, maybe a few Blue Point Juniper if conditions are good for it there. Good visually, and that way if bag worms strike while you're out of town a week or two someday, maybe your wall won't be quite as decimated. Richard.

emerald cedar question: I planted a row of emeralds last week. This is my second time doing this. the first batch did not work out so well. my question is about spacing. I put the ball roots about foot and half - two feet apart. the bottoms of the trees touch each other. the tops do not. is it ok to clip the bottom of the cedars, so that there is room for the remaining branches/needles to "breathe"? last year, when bunched together the needles died. Im just not sure if it safe to clipp back the needles with out damaging them ? any thoughts would be great. thanks

Zone 9 where? Really, the Sunset zone would provide a much clearer picture of your conditions. I live in Zone 9/Sunset 23. Clay soil can be a problem with Arbutus Marina. The lack of drainage makes them even more susceptible to Phytophthora. Even with good drainage, Phytophthora can be a heart breaker with these lovely plants. I have lost three growing in huge pots; one tree, in the ground (sandy soil), remains healthy (knock on wood). Arctostaphylos prefers sandy/rocky soils. Emerald Carpet also prefers acid soils. I haven't tried Emerald Carpet, but in my area (south Orange County CA), A. edmundsii ('Little Sur') and A. uva-ursi 'Point Reyes' are thriving in very bright shade/protected sun. The former beside a shed, and the 'Point Reyes' under Iceberg rose bushes. Not sure they would be thriving in full sun here. These are being irrigated with drip. Howards have not been easy in our garden. We have lost three out of four of the 1 gal. plants tried. But our watering system is drip, and these guys are known to hate drip. How are you planning to irrigate?

Hello ! So I am in the simcoe county area in Wasaga Beach ontario. I have 17 beautiful now 3 year old emerald cedars at 7 ft now. I back onto forest and get crazy wind from the bay. I COVER MY CEDARS and in 3 moves in 8 years with this being my 3rd hedge I’ll tell you why ...... WIND + animals. All the cedars in my area are brown, bare in the bottom or bare throughout. Rabbits go after the base, deer everything else. The wind here almost gives the cedars a wind burn. I never believed in tightly burlaping anything. I string up the cedars incase of freezing rain or in the case of this year lots of heavy snow, I then stake a wall front and back, then burlap the wall. I use a steel gaged fence tied to the post and burlap over too. Yes it’s excessive but I see the damage of uncovered, half eaten cedars. When I lived closer to Toronto I only saw damage from cedars out in the open exposed to our winter winds. At this point with how full and tall my cedars are I’m not about to start swapping out ones that die. Not to mention my neighbour who works at 4am (I still live in a subdivision) see’s deer stalking my cedar ‘Berlin wall’ a few times a week. It’s not attractive, neighbours don’t mind one bit and come spring I have no issues. My other neighbours had issues and did the same after replacing 6/9. You can use other materials other then steel gaged fence it is pricer I did it because the winter winds here are nuts and COLD the burlap without the support just caves in, I do it come November and no touch ups or issues until End of March / early April I take it down then reuse the same materials come fall. At this point the steel fence costs less then having to replace each tree. I also in the fall but those fertilizer spikes you hammer into the ground and put one for each tree/shrub it seems to do wonders. I water up until end of October. They are established but like anything else hot days - dry streaks I do my best and water everything. In our area the nurseries all agreed to cover the area around the trees but not cover completely allowing them to adjust to the temperature and as well snow won’t hurt them one bit just keep them twined incase of freezing rain etc