Hi midadoo, Do the math. Figure at what "heigth" you want them to be touching. If a plant at 10 years is only 2 feet across but only 10 feet tall, however you want a 20 foot tall "screen", then plant them accordingly. It's all math. Doesn't matter if it's 'Atrovirens', Thuja X 'Green Giant', or anything else for that matter. Since Atrovirens is a cultivar, "we" know the size it will become in height and width always as well as how much vertical and horizontal growth it will produce 'at a given time in time'. My examples are not for 'Atrovirens' "Western Red Cedar" but are an example of how any person on this planet should "think ahead." Obviously you can type so I expect a few simple mathematical additions you can do as well. The answer to your question which is another question in itself because you will be pruning them to control heigth as a "Hedge" is to plant them X feet apart (money being another third issue' and length of screen being another "money" issue) is for you to figure it out yourself. In 10 years time, a "single" Thuja plicata 'Atrovirens' will be without any doubt in anyones mind - 10 feet x 2.5 feet wide. Here's a link for you and you can determine on your budget how far you'd like to space a 8-10 foot hedge with a plant that has the possibility of becoming over 100 feet tall. Thanks... Dax Here is a link that might be useful: Western Red Cedar 'Atrovirens'

i would start by asking the neighbor if they find any pleasure in it.. and perhaps come to an agreement to destroy the whole.. and start over ... either helping with labor.. or splitting the cost ... cutting it down is usually not the problem.. as much as getting rid of the mess after .... on most things... you have to PRUNE .. not shear... back to a live branch ... you cant just lop off 2 feet ... though i am not researching your specific plant ... but regardless of what you do ... it will be ugly for a number of years .. and your will have to be able to put up with that ... some peeps can.. others cant ... i just googled white cedar.. and was told.. that common name is used on a few different plants.. it would be good to know.. the latin name of your plant .. so as to be most specific on advice ... and that is why you may not be able to track down specific info.. including youtubes on the process .... we can ID the plant with a pic .... i dont know what you are talking about with splicing ... if you mean grafting.. its an idea.. but i never heard of it.. and it is not the favored season for grafting ... good luck ken

Paula, that is a way of keeping CONTROL. The way to deal with that, sometimes you must step back and think. If you cannot change anything yourself, you can change your attitude and find peace and calm. Then you find a way to deal with it, but hold on until you find the right path.

Hello ! So I am in the simcoe county area in Wasaga Beach ontario. I have 17 beautiful now 3 year old emerald cedars at 7 ft now. I back onto forest and get crazy wind from the bay. I COVER MY CEDARS and in 3 moves in 8 years with this being my 3rd hedge I’ll tell you why ...... WIND + animals. All the cedars in my area are brown, bare in the bottom or bare throughout. Rabbits go after the base, deer everything else. The wind here almost gives the cedars a wind burn. I never believed in tightly burlaping anything. I string up the cedars incase of freezing rain or in the case of this year lots of heavy snow, I then stake a wall front and back, then burlap the wall. I use a steel gaged fence tied to the post and burlap over too. Yes it’s excessive but I see the damage of uncovered, half eaten cedars. When I lived closer to Toronto I only saw damage from cedars out in the open exposed to our winter winds. At this point with how full and tall my cedars are I’m not about to start swapping out ones that die. Not to mention my neighbour who works at 4am (I still live in a subdivision) see’s deer stalking my cedar ‘Berlin wall’ a few times a week. It’s not attractive, neighbours don’t mind one bit and come spring I have no issues. My other neighbours had issues and did the same after replacing 6/9. You can use other materials other then steel gaged fence it is pricer I did it because the winter winds here are nuts and COLD the burlap without the support just caves in, I do it come November and no touch ups or issues until End of March / early April I take it down then reuse the same materials come fall. At this point the steel fence costs less then having to replace each tree. I also in the fall but those fertilizer spikes you hammer into the ground and put one for each tree/shrub it seems to do wonders. I water up until end of October. They are established but like anything else hot days - dry streaks I do my best and water everything. In our area the nurseries all agreed to cover the area around the trees but not cover completely allowing them to adjust to the temperature and as well snow won’t hurt them one bit just keep them twined incase of freezing rain etc