Not addressing all your questions, but mine are planted 7' to 8' apart 11 yrs ago. This was taken 2 yrs ago -- they're getting close to closing the spaces now (behind the pine in the background). You might want to plant yours further apart -- up to you:

Thank you!...but for us, we want to be able to close the gap quicker between them...

This is what we are hoping for in a few years, want to not be able to see through the gaps between them:

GG will grow to 12+ feet wide long term. If you want a privacy screen relatively quickly, you will have to plant them pretty close together. But then they will eventually be overcrowded. Plant with the longer-term in mind, and you won't have complete privacy for a while. Catch 22.

My neighbor ran into the same conundrum with his spruce screen. His solution was to plant the spruces with ample spacing, but in two, staggered rows. After 15 years, he cut down one of the rows. Only works if you have the room though

Thanks! So you think 6 feet and not 5 feet?

For the response above I saw the staggering option too. Guess we could but then need double the trees right?

Right. You'd need double.

6' is good. 5' would work yes.

Dax

sounds good!

Any idea on the other questions:

1. Any issues with planting these in late May/early June? I am also having a sprinkler system installed, these trees will have a drip system so I will easily be able to provide them enough water. Last year we planted 10 Manhattan Euonymus in late May, watered them well, and they are doing great (granted we had a mild winter outside of a few record freezing days).

2. What's the best size trees to plant? Seems like the bigger ones in the long run are not as good as the smaller ones? Current plan is for 5 to 6 foot trees, is that a happy medium?

3. His estimate also includes screened top soil to create a bed/berm 1 foot off the ground, premium natural mulch, and a 1 year guarantee on the trees. Anything else that should be included in the estimate?

3-4' is perfect. That's an approximate 2-3 gallon size root-system. What's important are the roots and not the height of the tree, however, too large of a tree in a pot that's not large enough is a set back. There's additional root-pruning in that case and the plants won't be as healthy as a smaller plant in a similar size pot. That smaller 3-4' plant would overtake that 5-6' tree in the same pot by a long shot. It's all about the roots my friend.

When I'm going to buy a tree in a container and I'm standing there at a nursery, I pull the tree up and out of the pot to see what the roots look like. If they've spun around the inside of the pot then the tree/shrub has been in the pot too long. When you see roots heading downward and very little circling if any, then you've a tree that's bound to do well.

There's more to it of course. Isn't there always?.... root-pruning is still-always-a-must. If and I am a professional I was going to plant trees for someone, I massage the/each rootball with my hands loosening all roots. I then cut off any that have a "J" shape where the root is heading back into the inside of the rootball or heading "up." Both of those situations are not good. By the time I've planted a tree I have every single root separated and fanned out heading in equidistant relations with each other. I build an "upside down" "V" shape (Volcano shape) in the center of my hole with the back fill and span the roots down and heading into the sides of the hole. I put chunks of soil or handfulls of soil over each root to hold it in place.

On my six-acres I have lost very few trees or shrubs of over 350 I've planted. I've taken the time to plant every single one of them this way.

Call me meticulous, but I want my hardwoods to live as long as possible and the roots as I said are the most important thing about any plant. AT a nursery, I'll buy a tree 2' shorter than a taller one if the roots are better on that hardwood.

Best to you,

Dax

P.s. I never buy ball & burlap hardwoods. You never know what you're getting into.

Is it possible he's getting 5 to 6 foot ones with a bigger root system that will do just as well? If yes, what size root system should I be asking them to be?

Also here's pics of where they are going to go to give the full picture. Our property line is at an angle, but at the beginning of the garage it's 3 feet off the neighbors garage and angles to the back corner. Plan is to start the hedge where the forsythia are at the edge of the beech trees branches, go along the property line staying enough on our side to avoid future issues, and then make a turn to the right and stop at the forsythia we have before the first Manhattan.

May I make a recommendation... Thuja occidentallis 'Hetz Wintergreen' aka 'Wintergreen' is the correct plant for that width. You'd plant 'Hetz Wintergreen' 4' apart. Hetz Wintergreen becomes 8' when 40' tall.

'Green Giant' is going to make its way onto your neighbors property, including encroaching onto that driveway. It's the wrong plant.

You can purchase Hetz Wintergreen to be delivered to any local nursery that carries Monrovia Nursery plants, or, they're becoming more and more available online. I have (33) Hetz Wintergreen I planted from 5-6" cuttings in 2008 (same time I planted my Green Giants' that are 12+ feet tall. I have an 8' wide strip between my neighbor and my driveway. It's the perfect screening tree which also "looks" to be the correct selection for you.

I planted mine 7-8' apart because I am looking for a different look, again. For you though, every 3' or 3.5' would be right. Give your neighbor 5' from your mutual property line where you'd plant on center.

You really should rethink this all. It's good you haven't purchased the Green Giants.

What you need to understand about Green Giant is that it is a hybrid of Thuja plicata and Thuja standishii. Simply google each of these and see just how big a tree each is.

In 10-years a Green Giant hedge will be 8' wide and then they will encroach onto your neighbor's property.

Here's a photo of mine. Obviously it's very windy here tonite. Mine are ~3' wide at the widest point. Luckily there's always a dog around to add to the perspective. Remember, these were 5-6" tall only eight years ago with a root-system about 5" long.

Dax

How much space do I need to be off the neighbors driveway to avoid them encroaching, especially if they are planted 6 feet apart?

corey5388's ideas · More Info

corey5388's ideas · More Info

corey5388's ideas · More Info

In central Wisconsin, been warm this past two weeks, mid 80's just rained once in the last two weeks. They do get partial shade in the mornings and evenings.

insert finger and FIND OUT if the soil is wet or dry ... at 2 to 3 inches.. use trowel if you cant stick finger that far in ...

20 seconds with a hose is not enough.. to wet 3 to 5 inches down.. where the roots are ...

you would be better off.. presuming its bone dry where your finger indicates... to water sufficient to wet the soil at 3 inches ... and not water again .. for a week or 3.. until it dries down there ...

you have to water the roots.. 20 seconds is barely enough.. to wet the plant above the ground. ..

ken

yes, just dug up about three 2 to 3 inches down a few inches from the base of the tree and the soil is nice and dark and moist i would say. Definitely not dry i would say as the soil would stick to my fingers. I didn't take a photo here of this but will tonight when i get home, therefore i shouldn't water still yet i am guessing.

Now i am beginning to wonder if this isn't a watering issue but some other type of soil issue with this type of tree?

here are two photos showing the ground 3inches below, still pretty moist, havent watered since saturday june 25th, 4 days ago.

Corey, I highly doubt there's any issue with the soil. GG is not some fussy-wussy plant, but an arborvitae, which are healthy, easy-to-grow things in most any soil, save for drought-prone or salty. But the issue I'd like to address is cold-hardiness of this plant for Wisconsin; I like arbs a lot, at least certain forms. So I jumped on the GG bandwagon some years back and planted a few up at my tree farm land in Oconto County. That might not be too awful far from "central Wisconsin, albeit Oconto is firmly in the northeastern quadrant of the state. So, what happened? At first, they exhibited no problems, but then came the ultra-cold winter of 2012, and they turned browner than my old Carhartt jacket. Several of them did re-green but they stayed so ugly I've written them out of the plan, so to speak. Maybe where you are will be just a little bit milder-I don't know-but do be aware, these things are better suited to milder climates. I hope you succeed, because as I said, I like these things, but again, mine turned out to be less than suitable.

Almost all plant performance problems are environmental in nature, not due to "bugs" or disease. Water management is the crucial issue in the early going, so that should always be the first thing looked at. And too much water-if carried to the point of root rot-looks exactly the same as too little. After all, once the plant's roots are gone, it essentially dries up. Generally, a once-per-week watering is the prescription, barring heavy rain. Not sure where exactly you are, but we've had way more rain than you make it sound like, over here in the A-town area. Sitting at just under 6 inches for June so far. More tonight.

ya, i am down in Ripon. Our climate is essentially the same to tell you the truth. You might be -23 F, and we will be -21 F on the same day in January. We have been missing all the storms this past few weeks, maybe some tonight i hope, but as you can see in the above photos, i believe the soil is not dried out by the roots. But thanks for chiming in here and givening me your advise and your experience here, i thought the same thing actually as these plants came from South Carolina.

If i can't get these buggers to stay green and healthy in the nice 70's and 80's and sunshine weather here in the next few months, i might as well use them as firewood during the winter months we get.

Not sure what went wrong here, as nobody can really put there finger on it here. I tried sending an email to the county horticulture department, but that might take years to get a response back yet. Just very frustrating to figure out.

I am wondering if I should put some of these back in a pot with potting soil and see if they become green again?

Corey, I don't see how that would help, unless I'm wrong and there actually is a soil issue. Oh and in the case that my earlier words were confusing, I'm in Appleton but our tree farm land and woods is the place in Oconto Cty. Now that is one whole zone colder up there, but where you and I live is undoubtedly in the same Z5.

Wish I had something more constructive to add. You shouldn't really be having trouble getting these things up and going. Just that certain winters are going to knock them for a loop, which of course, in this case, hasn't yet happened. One final question; Are they all looking tough like that or are there some good ones?

there are half of them that look alot better and only a little bit of yellowing.

Just an update, the dead ones I replaced and replanted them in August. I believe it was my mistake possibly as I might have planted them too deep and that's what I think is what caused them to die. They all survived the winter Ok, except for some deer chewing on them. The deer in this part of the country love to eat Arb's so I can't believe they claim they are deer resistant. This winter I will protect them from the deer with a cheap fence I think. I think most have grown about

wisconsitom and ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5, I guess we can't email directly here on this site, if so I haven't figured out how to email them, but anybody see any issues here or opinions on the Green giants?

I know I have a deer issue in the winter here and will get some deer fence up in November, as the wife goes behind my back and gets salt tablets out to attract the deer to come so she can name them. Wife and Daughter almost have them tame and got names for almost 12 of them. We get into fights when I blow off some bottle rockets when the deer get near my Green Giants and blue berry bushes. Does that deer spray work do you think? Are there other options/methods that are more permanent other than the fence to keep these boogers away when I am gone at work all day? We are still in the city limits so I can't have a German Shepard roaming around outside. I could do a shot or two with a slug without causing a stir with the authorities, but more deer would come to replace the fallen one, and I don't want to sleep outside during our winter months in Wisconsin if either the daughter or wife found out I took one down.

I guess I am just bored at work here and looking for ideas other than an ugly fence to protect my trees.

Corey5388, I enjoyed reading your comments and updates on your Thuja GG's. Would you be able to post a current picture? I'm about 3 years behind you....I planted 67 in a zig zag pattern (all about 6 feet apart) around the back and side of my property In May 2019. I'd be very interested to follow your progress. My plan is to remove all the rest of the honey suckle (I already removed a ton in order to clear out space to plant all the Thuja GG's) once these 67 plants get big enough to provide some privacy....but I know that will be a few years off still. Attached are pictures from May 2019 and May 2020. You can barely see the plants in the May 2019 picture....all plants were about 15 inches tall when planted last year.

As you can see, I hooked up a drip irrigation system after I planted them last year, which works well for new young plants in the St. Louis summer heat. Thanks.

i like your setup, i will take some photos this afternoon when i get home and post them on here, i was a naughty boy and bought another 20 pants of the 1 footers and planted them on the other side of my property last week and i will take a photo of them as well.

Thanks for the quick response. I probably have close to about 200 feet total between the side (May 2019 and May 2020 pics attached) and the back (back corner and back of property pics posted this morning). A lot of work, but it’s a great hobby. The entire area that now has Thuja GG's was full of thick, dense honey suckle that I had to cut/dig/wrestle out before I could start my planting last year. That was a major, major job getting that out. And I'll still have the inner layer of honey suckle to take out (once these plants get big enough to provide some privacy between the street and the back yard).

Mine are 10-years of growth. Year 11 this year. I got em mostly from a friend with massive roots on maybe 18" plants but most were around 14", I would guess. Then I had to get some more so I think I bought them from "Botany Shop" - if that rings a bell to anyone. They were 6" or so and in 4" peat containers from what I can recall.

They're in my estimation 21'. They look taller than 20'.

That's a nootka "Pendula" I say in quotes because I was impressed with the now closed Girard's Nursery, clone they were propagating also 11-year, I suppose. Maybe 9 or so.

I'll post a few more here of my Green Giant's now. I basically spaced them 12' and sometimes I'd do 14 or 13. Some I can't drive that mower thru now or if I did I'd be eating tree. They're touching in other words from ground to 6' or whatever.

Dax

That's a 6' step ladder 9' at the most behind the plantings. It doesn't help in other words.

Gardener365: They look great! Thanks.

Yep

Gardener365, those looks awesome, i want mine to look like that!

ok, Jim,

i took some photos tonight, these were planted june 2016, many are over 6 feet tall, actually close to 7 feet to the top on some. I have one that is stunted for some reason in the middle, perhaps roots issue or something.

again planted 5 feet apart, i think this summer they will grow at least 2 feet perhaps, can't wait!

other side of my property, i planted 20 more 14 inchers, tough to see here, maybe i will fly the drone to take some more interesting photos, lol. hard to see with all of the other vegetation coming in now.

What's that evergreen on the right called? It's beautiful

Corey, It looks like you're getting good steady growth. Thanks for posting your pics. I'll post updated pics in October. Thanks again.

Jim, your two photos above that shows a road right next to the trees. I am very curious how much growth each year these trees will do each year. Please keep us updated if you can. It appears you have some pretty large trees right next to or overhanging these small trees, so they must get a lot of shade throughout the day? I farthest from any tree expert here, but the more sun these guys get i think the more growth they show? I have some new ones i planted too that the sun will be blocked by other larger trees in the area during the middle summer months.

Corey, That's always been a concern. I've recently cut back some more of that honey suckle on the left so it's only about 5 feet tall to allow more sun. So now even those plants get several hours in the morning and a few hours in the late afternoon. They're not doing quite as well as the ones in the corner, but they're still showing decent growth. Those big trees provide a lot of late afternoon shade for the house and patio.

Hi Lily,

Cupressus nootkatensis forma Pendula.

or

Cupressus nootkatenis 'Pendula'. There are however several nootka cypress clones in the trade. Mine is a grafted nootka Pendula from the now closed Girard's Nursery.

If you go to the American Conifer Society you can view cultivars of nootka cypress and find one that's a good match for you.

Hi

i am confused about which of the two I should plant near a pool. Green giant or leyland cypress . Pls help. How far from the property line should I plan it?

Thank you

Hi Asha! Welcome to the forums.

Please, it would be best for you to start a new thread. It aids others to give you advice that's pertinent to your particular situation and problems. Also adding pictures from different angles will help others give you the best advice.

we just planted 2 thuja green giants 2ft from garage and 2ft from a cement salad but are spaced 7ft from each other with another 4 ft on other sides to grow.

is this ok if we intend to prune or will they eventually die?