you are asking about conifers.. there is a conifer forum.. should you wish to learn more about such .. i do not care where you post, otherwise ... you will find a lot more info.. if you start using the latin names.. instead of common names ... link below to Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd' .. which is the real name of the plant you are asking about ... MOST size estimates are at 10 years ... research the annual growth rate .... and you will find that is what the size is based on ... most keep growing at the growth rate for years after 10 years ... i dont think it will fit your needs ... mine just dont put on height that fast ... copy/paste this: http://www.google.com/search?q=thuja+smargard&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=eXC&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&q=Thuja+occidentalis+%27Degroot%27s+Spire%27&aq=0amp;aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=58aca0ee2c0ec6ed in a small yard ... it is much thinner but will have the height .... to fix this problem ... you most likely need to move away from what the bigboxstore offers ... maybe they will have what you want.. but you might need to spend money to fix the issue .. good luck ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

I planted 50 leyland's 3 years ago. They were in the 5 gallon buckets, about a foot tall each. Now they are 12 to 14 feet tall. Not one has died, gotten cancer or been toppled. I live in Northwest Georgia. These trees have seen the most extreme weather our area has seen in years. Let me give some unsolicited advice, with all due respect. 1. Whether they are green giant or leyland or arbovitae of any kind: Make sure you know your soil, make sure you know your frost level, and make sure you PLANT AND WATER AND FERTILIZE them appropriately. If you don't have time to manage them, then don't plant them. 2. Plant them far away from structures you don't want them to grow into. i.e: fences, buildings, septic tanks, neighbors who hate their shade etc. 3. plant them double their pot width, ONLY to the top of the pot you bought them with and with 1/2 native soil and the other half conducive to your local weather and environment. Be prepared to tie them off with rope that have maybe some cut pieces of garden hose around the rope to keep them from choking and which will help keep them level in high wind times if you are in a high wind area. 4. Applying water and appropriate nutrients is huge, but easy. GG's and Leyland demand alot of water if on a slope with hard clay or dense soil. Down south if you are in red clay, then water them morning and night for the first month or two. If you are up north or in moist soil, once a week watering with any spronkler system is going to be ok, just dont overwater at night, stick to early mornings. I applied 10/10/10 in a circle about 1 foot out from the tree bole in early spring, and then again early summer, because my red clay is very acidic, hence the 10/10/10. Nice basic nutrients. 5. Don't flip out about the cancer issues that you might tend to google; you are planting a long term resource for shade and beauty and perhaps privacy, so pay attention to your trees....daily. If the branches are browning on the outside but green on the inside, that ok, it's just growth. If you see a ring around the trunk, then do some research, I won't go into detail here. Just watch your trees, and remember, if you are planting in a row or around fences/property, your soil may be very different from one side to the other. The pic below is a recent one of my Leyland's after 3 years. They started out at about a foot. This is in PACKED Georgia red clay with lots of rocks. You may experience some growtg difference, but if they look healthy, they are healthy. I must say: Your initial soil preparation is huge. Plant them well. The GG's and Leyland's have a tap root that if given proper care, will grow deep and delve for nutrients. Out of 50 planted not one has died or had a problem. I am not a tree doctor nor do I play one on TV. I am...a lover of oxygen.

Thank you for the name breakdown Ken. This makes more sense to me now and it was helpful today at the nursery! So I went and they didn't have a lot in yet but apparently they will be getting 100 Degroot Spires in very soon so they said they would notify me so I could come have a look at them when they come in. Also while I was there I was able to examine the structure of the Smargards just to see what you guys meant by "leaders." I think I know what you mean but I'm still not sure if I will be able to select the right trees. Anyone know if this topic has been covered any where on the boards? The Degroot Spires are going to be $100 per so it would be horrible to make some bad choices. I will definitely check back on planting instructions Ken. Especially if I am spending this kind of money! By the way referring to my top picture in my previous thread does anyone think it's a good idea to reroute that downspout to drain into the area where I'm planning to plant these trees? P.S. regarding the ladder Ken, I meant that I might need it to remove a leader higher up if it was to split off later on? but then what do I know? Maybe they don't branch out that high up? Thanks for extra link as well but as much as it is a really unique looking tree I don't think it will provide that tight pyramid sort of shape I am going for. This post was edited by new_gardener_2010 on Sat, Apr 13, 13 at 23:04

Trees don't stop growing at a certain height, so you are probably looking for something that can tolerate sheering as well. I would recommend Thuja occidentalis 'Yellow Ribbon' if you want something a little different, but still flexible for the spot.