I have 9 Thuja GGs planted along the north side a Privacy fence, which is only 5 feet just north of a Brick, two story house. They receive mid day and full afternoon until sunset direct sun. In the winter mine stay green and do not show any bronze color change of the leaves My native soil is a dark, slightly acidic Clay. These trees benefit from the entire length of the fence area being slightly sloped upward and The soil along most of the fence has some builder's sand that had not been cleaned up by the workers who built the neighbor's house. This area is in the north east corner of my lot. My trees started out as one gallon pot sized trees, which were 12-15 inches tall and very nicely shaped and filled out when I planted them. These trees have been very happy, have grown to a height of 9 feet tall in Summer of 07. I watered them often especially in drought times, but did not begin feeding them Osmokote until the Spring of 07, which was early in the 3rd year since I planted them. When I was not feeding them the previous years, they sent up very narrow shoots of new growth each spring and fall. This new growth never seemed to fill out very nicely and by the time they reached 5 feet tall, they began to look pretty unbalanced. Once I started giving them the Osmokote, though, they began growing faster and all the very thin top half of the tree began to fill out more quickly. This made the trees appear much more balanced and more like one would expect the trees to be. Since my trees were watered, but not fed for the first two years they only grew about one additional foot the first year, and two feet the second year after I first planted them. When I began giving them the Osmokote, they not only grew more filled in tops; they also, grew an additional 5 feet in one year. I have a friend whose trees are planted in clay with out the benefit of added builder's sand, and they are planted on the South side of a privacy fence, which slopes from west to east at a fairly significant grade. At least half of her trees have needed to be replaced due to them sufficating along the lower part of slope, where the clay soil remainded wet for extended periods of time. They were never in standing water. The problem happened because runoff water kept the soil too moist for too long of times. The replacement trees she planted lived, and it appears they lived under the same conditions due to them being 5 gallon potted sized trees which were already 6 feet tall, when she planted them, and so we figured large of a tree needs more moisture than the original 12-15 inch tall ones, which died for her, needed.

Smaller trees actually do better than big trees when transplanted. Newly planted trees need more water than established trees. Leylands don't like a huge amount of water. Green Giants like more water than Leylands. Get a long water meter, and stick your finger down into the soil to really know how moist it is. Also, newly planted trees for the 1st couple years have a small rootball and when you water you want to soak that rootball and the soil around it -- many ppl don't actually get water directly into the rootball. I'm a newbie too and bought a very large number of expensive big trees to start my yard from scratch. I needed shade very badly. Well, I had not read this forum yet, and it was a mistake. It takes 5 years for a big tree to recover from transplanting. I had many expire, to my horror. A small tree planted correctly at the same time will be healthier, fuller and bigger by the end of that 5 years! Trees take 3 years to establish once planted. Big trees take 5. 1st year they sleep. 2nd year they creep. 3rd year they leap. And after the 3rd year, with watering in drought and judicious pruning, trees will be happy and really grow. Use the 'Search' feature here and find great threads with very specific info on the best way to plant trees. Very helpful!

Dig a small hole right beside one of the green giants (just outside where you mulched). Dig the hole maybe 1' deep and fill with water. Let it drain out and fill again. See how fast the water drains. If it drains out within 6 hours you should be alright and the green giants shouldn't be in any standing water. However, if you have soil like my soil... the water will not drain. It'll sit until it evaporates. If this is the case... they need to come up and you need to mound plant them. By mound plant them I mean sit them on the surface of of the ground and pile dirt around them. I have a large yard... I have some areas of my yard that drain alright and I can plant normally. The water will drain out of the hole in just a couple hours. I have other parts of my yard where water will not drain out of the hole at all. I didn't know the soil was holding water like this until some of them started turning brown. So I did a little investigating. I carefully pulled the conifers out of the ground and the hole was a bucket of water. If you have terrible clay that holds water... you can easily over water just about anything. If your test hole drains it could be that they are getting to much water... but at least it drains. If they're getting to much water it's an easy fix... just don't water and hope for no rain. They may brown up a little from stress which is no big deal. If they're sitting in water, they really need to be mound planted. Dig the test hole and let us know your findings.

how big were the transplants ,,??? bottom line.. there is no instant gratification in trees ... your expectations are very high ... if you expected to rip them from pots or mother earth ... plant them.. and they would show significant growth in the mean time .. size at planting.. dictates how it will take them to get re-established.. and really start growing ... clay can be some of the most fertile soil there is ... you seem to want to think that because you have clay.. its lacking in something ... call your county extension office.. and have a soil test done.. and find out if in fact anything is lacking ... if your plants are with a few feet of a fertd lawn ... they will get all they need.. in the future ... it would be interesting to know.. how you planted in your clay.. see link below for a discussion of such ... if you insist on a common name.. these are called green giants .... or you are confusing another thuja variety ... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub