Thoughts on 'Hybrid Willows' vs. 'Thuja Green Giant'?
candace70
18 years ago
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thoroughbred
16 years agoWendyB 5A/MA
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Thuja Green Giant & Red Maple Emperor I
Comments (25)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....See MoreLeyland vs. Green Giant vs. White Pine need screening advice
Comments (29)Yes I have been short of time lately, but after I just saw your latest questions, I took only a moment to walk over to my row of trees and check thier measurements. The fence behind my trees appears 10 times worse that the one in your photo. My trees are planted on about 9 foot centers and I only did one row of them. The bottom four feet height on then averages spreads across their widths of at average is 5 feet all the way around them. For the distance from the two intercecting fences inside corner to the end of the bad fence my trees are distacting the view from is about 50 feet long. I have 7 GGs planted along this length. the GG's trunk nearest to the inside corner of the intercecting fences has a trunk only 4 feet away from the corner. the 6 other GGS have an 8 feet distance I can measure from trunk to trunk, But the planting holes when first dug were centered at almost 9 feet distances. The lower 4 feet of the trees are the most full and there is still an average of a 2 foot gap between each of the trees that needs to fill in before the trees will make a solid screen along that height of the 6 foot tall fence. Since I stoped giving my trees osmokote even before last year the rest of the trees growth is not as thick or wide, so there is even more view of the top two feet of the ugly fence. This is the reason why I suggested it is best for you to plant two staggered rows. That way you will have a better full screen more quickly than my trees. the neighbor's two story house is no more than 4 feet on the otherside of the ugly fence. The tops of my trees have grown about a foot higher than the bottom of their second story windows. I measured a 4 foot distance from the fence slats to the trunks of my trees, and I could still easily, with out much tree branch displacement, walk behind my trees and the fence when I came up with the 50 foot measurement for the lengh of fence that the lower 4 feet of this line of trees currently cover. One other note is that I planted only 18 inch tall trees to start. They are fairly well protected from the prevailing north/south winds because the 2 story house is directly south of them and there is a large scarlet oak tree directly north of the first 3 from that inside corner I discussed above. I live on a corner lot and my house faces west, but the fence in question is along along the east facing back yard/south side yard, and it stretchs westward to about half the depth of our south facing side yard. So my GGs get plenty of afternoon sun, especially in the summer and before they grew so tall got a lot of morning shade. I only went to all this description to illustrate how protected they are from drying winds. This is so effective for then that my trees have never taken on a bronzy cast that many people report their GGS do in the winter. My trees are also planted on a slight rise where the builders of the two story house so close south of my trees never did a good job cleaning out the builders sand they uses when installing a narrow sidewalk between that house and the privacy fence. The growth I reported with my trees has all been affected by theses issues I have just discussed. GGs which struggle will slow draining soil that stays wet longer will grow only half as fast as mine have until they get well established, which could take up to 4 years. Some of them might even die during sudden dry periods and have to be replaced. Also trees planted at 6 feet tall might take a full 2 years before you see much top growth out out them. That is because they will be using this time to develop a better root system which can support the 5 foot yearly growth these trees do while they are young and once they are established. The trade off you get with this is while they are waiting to develop a larger root system and not growing much in height, they will be doing a better job than mine did concerning the thickening of their trunks and also thickening the density and spread of their branches. My trees did not have to that root size catch up so they started showing nice top growth in the first year they were planted. It took them all this time though to develop an exceptionally good density and branch spread over the lower 4 feet of them. If I had kept spreading Osmokote under them and watering them regularly in dry periods after they got well established, them that exceptionally nice thickness and spread portion of them today might have reached at least 8 feet high. As it is they have a fairly nice appearance from top to bottom, but do not have the type of screening affect that you would want to handle well the issues you have described in your back yard view. Hope that with all this description, it will help you to understand better why I suggested a double staggered row with the front row beeing the Steeplechase trees. If cost is an issue, you might plant 6 foot tall GGS on the back row and either purchase locally or order in if they cannot be found locally the steeplechase sport cultivars of the GGS. If ordered in those Steeplechase cultivar trees would probably on be available no larger than 3 gallon size and will look fairly thin when you get them, but if you provide them good drainage, water them correctly, and feed them with osmokote each spring and fall growing season then it will suprise you a how quickly they catch up in size the the larger GGS you planted in the back row....See MoreI need a alternative to Thuja Green Giant
Comments (12)You know, I did not realize that "any" juniper could harbor the rust fungus. This may explain why some of my fruit trees have died off. There are juniper shrubs lining the border of my neighbor's property. When I first bought the property 4 years ago I had 3 peach trees and several apple trees including a stunted apple that looked blistered and burnt. All of the peach trees have died and I had to finally cut the apple down because only half of it awoke from the winter sleep. The fruit trees have really proven to be a pain with all the mess they create and for how susceptible they are to illness, but I am reluctant to remove them because the critters love them so much. Treeguy - I am so sorry about your loss. With the trouble I am having already I've just decided to not even look into the red cedar, which saddens me because they are majestic. bernyz5 - western red cedar are some serious trees! Thank you for the suggestion. 1-3 feet of growth a year is not bad. I love the height that these trees reach and the thick base makes me feel more secure that the tree won't be uprooted in a strong wind. I've decided to purchase 4 Western Red Cedar and 4 Norway Spruce next spring. I hope to get 3-5 foot saplings. Two of the sites I'm considering purchasing from are below: http://www.norwayspruce.com/index.html#dp http://www.nurserytrees.com/Western_Red_Cedar_Page.htm Do these prices look pretty good? If any of you have suggestions for trustworthy online conifer dealers, please share. And I thank you again for your help....See MorePlanting Green Giant Thujas
Comments (6)God i hate when i forget the link ... you asked my opinion ... i gave it ... 85 degrees is NEVER a good time to plant ... holding them a week or two ... in shade... will probably mean... temps in the 70s ... and cooler at night ... just less transplant stress... and a little time to get over shipping stress .... take a drive thru your greater area... how many of the HUGE trees do you see... that were NOT amended at planting ... and a vast majority of them probably self seeded [i am not talking suburbia here] ... in native soil ... there is nothing inherently wrong with clay ... the problem is... us.. transplanting improperly into clay.. and then killing them thru improper watering or amending.. or fert'g ... etc ... we add all the variables on transplant.. and then wonder why ma nature fails.. she doesnt.. we do .... the idea that these are some kind of babies which requires coddling.. is nonsense .. and its when we start coddling them ... that we add all kinds of variables.. that simply complicate the whole deal ... if you amend a hole.. in bad clay.. ts possible ..... the tree.. will simply wind its root around.. and around.. and around.. in the amended soil ... if you plant in native soil... they are forced to deal with it ... and with proper planting.. and watering.. they can deal with it ... and not being babies.. they will most likely never need to be fed.. nor diapered.. nor educated ... etc ... treat them like the trees they are .... plant them like trees plant themselves.. and you will be well on your way.. to growing a plant.. that can deal with your native conditions.... of which.. i am presuming GGs are ???? and... if they are within feet of a fertilized lawn .... soon enough.. will will have roots out there.. stealing anything they may need ... just like painting.. prep is 95% of the job .... now that you have your plants.. you have the other 95% to do ... remove 3 inches of sod ..... dig a hole... and plant tree according to the link above ... high in bad clay ... and water properly .. BTW.. have you ever perked you soil???? ... perhaps your clay isnt as bad as you think... dig a hole .. fill it with water.. and find out.. how long it takes to drain .... then plant accordingly ... we like this planting guide.. because it is written by one of our own .. though most peeps dont admit they know brandon.. lol .... and it encapsulates what we all believe... its not worth this very col typing.. to have an exoteric discussion on all the other website you have seen ... this whole amendment thing.. started by nursery sales peeps.. wanting to increase their profit.. by selling you not only the tree... but all the high profit amendments.... its like the car dealer wanting to sell you undercoating.. warranties... etc ... why do we tell them no.. but cant help ourselves with our baby trees ... dont complicate your life ... ken...See Morethoroughbred
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