Its my AP's 10th year!! I think Ill have to end my yearly update for now as theres not much change thatll happen. If theres anything that changes in the future Ill post again. Last week I trimmed the lower 4 feet about more than a foot off, as its eating up precious space on my narrow side yard. then a few days later it exploded with fruit/seeds from top to bottom, thats why it looks yellow green in the pict. maybe not due to the trim but more likely the warm weather. the other side AP's werent as abundant. Something that I did back in 2014 when I just planted were to dig out all suckers & secondary leaders from all plants, leaving just a single trunk growing. they all looked like bamboo stalks at that stage . if your area doesnt get much snow & if you can risk the trees unravel from heavy snow load then dont remove them as they can help make the trees look fuller & dense. I gave 16 suckers to my neighbor, planting them in 2016 thats the 2nd pict. theyre growing really nicely from what i can see on the other side of the fence. other than that i hope all your AP's will become much fuller than what i have. I didnt have any problems with them & their fast growth is amazing.

Completely different clones are sold as 'Atrovirens' over here. The original distinguishing feature was that it was deeper green that typical, otherwise the same. Old Latin cultivar names like this may go back so far that there have been numerous independent introductions made under the same name, as well as the usual mixing up that goes on in nurseries. I once heard the complaint from a retailer here that a grower with a large block of a western redcedar cultivar was telling prospective buyers they were whichever generally similar cultivar they were looking for. If they asked about 'Atrovirens', that's what they were. If they were wanting 'Green Sprot', that's what he had and so on. Just looking at these "hedging cedars" (name used in Lower Mainland of BC) in local retail outlets I cans see that variety names have become quite mixed. You will therefore have to study any stock being considered carefully and in person to see if it looks like it is going to fit the bill. Keep in mind that considerable broadening may occur with age, and that any western redcedar selections not of a dwarfed nature are likely to become towering with age. Partial shade is no problem with any kind of arborvitae, but heavy shade makes them see-through thin. Here in its native area western redcedar is, along with western hemlock a climax species that often comes up beneath taller, long-established specimens of other species and gradually replaces them - as long as fire or other stand-reducing disturbance remains absent.

Embothrium(USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA) I'd recommend an extension pole hedge trimmer, will give you an extra 6-10ft of reach To do this you have to be able to lift and control the weight of a power tool out on the end of a pole throughout the entire project each time, put up with the noise, fumes and upkeep of a small engine. Sure would be a lot easier to choose a hedge that will not overwhelm the planting Now you're being ridiculous for the sake of it. Fumes? You're outdoors. Weight? It's a pole with a small blade on it, anyone under 70 and healthy should be able to lift it. Noise? Do you have a quiet lawn mower that mankind doesn't know about yet? Upkeep, buy another one, lawn equipment is cheaper now than 30 years ago. $20 for a weedwacker in 1989, just bought one for $16 this year.

Hi! there fellow New Jerseyan, Ive been growing American pillar arborvitae for 2 years now & im very happy with their growth, i have 44. You can see picts under "american pillar arborvite" here in gardenweb. From the 2 years ive been caring for these, ive never had major yellowing of leaves at the top of these trees. i do see yellowing at the base, the ones very close to the ground, only when theres heatwave after heatwave in our area, which means theyre burning. This summer 2016, i did double up on watering, which not only means heavy watering every single day, when theres no rain, but also giving all of them a shower from top to bottom every day. This helped a lot as they didnt yellow as much as they did summer of 2015. I planted my trees as soon as i got them in late june 2014. i got worried about the summer heat too, but was surprised to see that they grow so much in july than in any other months of the year. i think as long as you water right & put sufficient mulch, it will thrive. its actually very low maintenance - just water! I didnt put soil amendments nor fertilizers, just good old NJ dirt. Just to let you know since youre planting this fall. The first fall 2014 i had these trees, they all turn brown. I thought they all dried up & withered. But dont be scared bec theyll come back alive after the last frost in may. my last thought is, the trees that get half day sun do much better than the ones in full sun. So since yours are in pots & im assuming in full sun, & you said you water twice a week, you will definitely get burning on the leaves. trees on pots dry up faster & would need watering twice a day specially during a summers heatwave. its a lot of work, thats why i try not to leave any on pots. Hope this helps. in 2 years my pillars from 4-inch pots are now 5 feet tall, the ones from a quart size pots are 7 feet. Goodluck.