where are you .... big city name ...

whats the weather been like since spring ... are you in drought ... high heat ...

need pix .. how big are they.. etc ...

see section one at link: https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

see also sect 7 ... as well as watering section ...

ken

I live near Diamond Lake, Washington about 40 minutes north of Spokane; zone 6a. Weather has been typical summer -- 70s-80s, very little to no rain. The trees are about 12-16" in height, including the portion in the ground.

Regarding section #7: I did firm the soil by foot as I filled it to remove air pockets. I have the depression at the top to retain water around the tree when I water. Only this section says do not not add any "amendments" to the soil. The nursery's instructions made clear to not fertilize them but said to consider mixing in top soil -- which I did.

Photos: I created an album with photos of all the trees at this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/35eyNoBmu5NZHbv86. If that doesn't work, let me know and I can upload them.

UPDATE: It also appears that the trees which are receiving the most direct sunlight are doing the worst; i.e., appear less green. I have four of these that receive more shade than the others and they are definitely more green than the others. I'm continuing to water them every evening at 7pm.

It looks to me like they were grown inside or in shade. When I take small Thuja outside from the greenhouse*, they must be adjusted to full sun, and they will do better in half sun than they will in full sun. Those in full sun end up looking a lot like your pics.

*Edit: I forgot who I was talking to. My "greenhouse" is a room where I grow under 8-Bulb T5 fluorescent lights. Sorry for the confusion.

Rod Barnes, your post was in trouble with " In mid July," and it went downhill from there.

Your source is a mailorder firm, right? What respectable firm sends out plants in July?

What exactly is a "start"? Your pix look like bitty little things, were they plugs? Why plant such vulnerable plants in July?

Read it and weep feed back history from D's Garden:

19 positives

14 neutrals

134 negatives

Now that we are out of the dog days try it again from a different source.

@sam_md Thanks for the reply. I'm no expert (obviously) and just followed their instructions. I had concerns about planting them this time of year but their instructions stated it could be done anytime of year. As indicated in my 2nd post, the plants are 12-16" including the portion in the ground; I'm not sure what "plugs" are. Certainly, the reviews for that outfit are not good -- that's unfortunate. But I am where I am at this point and I'll keep watering them and see how it goes. Got nothing to lose but a little time and water at this point. If these don't make it, I'll try from a local source in the spring.

@sam_md have you grown a lot of Thuja from seed?

Hi Addison,

Schaefer Nursery is the kind of material I am used to handling. In the trade these are called bare root liners. Scroll down and see GG's which are cutting grown. Liners like these are only dug and shipped during the dormant season.

I cannot comment about retail mailorder other than to say it is a common source of complaints on these forums.

Hi Sam, I've grown hundreds of Thuja from seed*. And, I am just trying to help Rod salvage some of the plants he's already got. Bill's advice is good, although, I do think that some of those plants look beyond saving... Local nursery's can get very expensive. If Rod wants cheap bareroot plants, I have had good success with chiefrivernursery.com's bareroot Thuja.

*Edit: From seed under fluorescent light, which is much weaker than sunlight, of course. The first year I moved them outside, I saw a lot of that. It was actually Bill who pointed out in some thread or another that they need to be slowly adjusted. And that worked.

Green Giants? A cross between Western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and Japanese arborvitae (Thuja standishii).

The ones pictured are very small specimens and most likely were never acclimated to being out in full sun. Then planting in the hottest part of the season.

And yes many look to be too far gone for this late in the season and would be better to start over with new stock. It's not too late for fall planting these types of plants, in your area.

No, Bill. Not Green Giants. Mostly Thuja occidentalis. But the symptoms described and the look of sun-shocked Thuja occidentalis seedlings are the same as what Rod shows in his pics.

If not Green Giants then why did Rod call them 'Giant thuja' ?

And why did sam_md tell you to scroll down to the 'GG' section on the nursery site?

Yes. I agree with you about that. I thought you were asking if I had grown Green Giants from seed. I have not. I have grown mostly Thuja occidentalis and when they were moved into full sun too quickly they had the same symptoms and they looked the same as Rod's Green Giants. Thus, it looks to me like they need some shading.

Sorry, I was posting for the OP's benefit, giving my opinion on what I would do if it were me.

@User You asked "What type of soil?" The native soil is pretty sandy. Knowing that, when I planted these, I mixed in 3/4 purchased top soil to 1/4 native soil. I think the conclusion of being sun-shocked seems right on given what I see -- but, didn't know that was a thing; newbie here. ;-) I'll figure out how to shade these better but I, too, am thinking that many of these are just too far gone. I'll continue watering for a week to see if they revive but I'm doubtful.

So, I'll do some looking around locally to see what I can find. Won't be doing mail-order again, that is for sure.

Looks like a combo of planting at the wrong time with weak rooted cuttings and over watering. Stop guessing at watering, you can buy a cheap moisture meter for ten bucks. I would never sell weak cuttings like those. This is what my rooted cuttings look like. No I don’t do mail orders.

Rod,

Thanks! I saw the 'sandy' part after I asked.

Yes water them but not drown them. On my sand, during heat of summer, new plants get watered every day for a couple of weeks, when no rain and full sun exposure.

But It's best to check for moisture by hand/eye contact until you get used to how your particular soil holds water. Here I can go 3-4 days with new plants but after the weather cools down towards fall, I'm back to once a week if needed.

In the fall, roots will generally extend themselves up to 60% until the ground freezes. So while you might not see much happening on top of the ground this time of year, healthy plants are still growing underground. That why I suggested replanting immediately.

Some of those Thuja may come out of it just fine but IME: some may take a good part of next season to recover and start growing again. So if you want trees that grow pretty much all the same during next season and being they're such small plants that are reasonably priced, iI'd consider starting from scratch and buying new ones.

UPDATE: Several of these have clearly begun to recover, showing much more green. I think I've found the watering they need and will continue with that for the near term. I might yet end up getting others to either replace some of these or to add to what is there. (NOTE: These are all spaced out with the intent to provide a visual screen between us and a neighbor's property.) This may or may not be fully successful but it will be a good learning experience for me since I have zero to none. :-) Tomorrow, I'm going to work on shading the ones that still look in need of help from too much sun.

@deltaohioz5 Thanks for that photo. Those cuttings are definitely taller than and much more rooted than what I received. Mine came with about 12" of green and 4" below and just fine hair roots -- nothing like what your photo shows.