Emerald Green Arborvitae in Clay?

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Hi folks, I'm pretty new and would love some advice. I understand that the emerald green arborvitae love moist, well-drained soil.

My challenge right now is that my backyard is heavy compacted clay. So far, I have

- Dug a hole twice as deep and thrice as wide as my 5 gallon arborvitae pot,

- Added a 3 inch layer of gravel at the very bottom to allow water to seep down away from the root ball.

- Covered the gravel with a mixture of garden soil and native clay, in a 1:1 ratio

- Introduced earthworms to provide natural aeration and fertilization

- Planted the arborvitae with a backfill of the garden soil/clay mixture, leaving the top 2-3 inches of the rootball above ground level and mounding it with more of the garden soil/clay mixture.

- Covered the ground with 3 inches of mulch.

So far, the tree is doing okay but it is too early to tell. But if you think about it, it is sitting in a giant clay pot with very limited drainage. I am measuring the moisture about 8 inches under the ground level using a moisture meter, and only watering when the meter reads dry to avoid over watering. I try to shoot for the higher end of the "moist" reading in the moisture meter every time I water to avoid under watering, which seems to take around one watering per week with my garden hose. I live near Sacramento, California. We are in zone 9B.

Do you think my tree stands a chance? Will it be able to grow into a beautiful tall green arborvitae or die off due to a non-ideal environment?

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Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
dig another hole.. and perk your soil ... this will give you some great info for the future ....https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=perk+your+soil&ia=web

the stone in bottom.. probably doesnt do anything.. but wont hurt ...

worms will either stay or go .. no harm though ...

great time of year to plant .. day heat should be lessening.. night heat easily dissipated ...

this is a tree.. things happen in tree time ... so dont have high expectations of SEEING much of anything happening anytime soon ...

water properly.. deeply and infrequently ... let it near dry in between drying ... this time of year ... there usually isnt the heat to dry the soil.. down at root level .. even in your zone ... so dont love it to death by watering too much ... and just skip watering if there is any significant rain .. keep checking ... i would prefer you learn to use a finger.. rather than a gizmo .. for the long run.. so use both until you dont need the gizmo ...

the next important period.. would be when the heat starts building next summer ... then we would be concerned with the watering again ...

its in transplant shock due to the whole process... its not hungry.. no fert .. clay is usually very fertile ...

one thing you didnt mention ... were the roots badly circling the pot???

to repeat.. dont try to kill it with too much love.. just relax.. water it properly ... ..

ken
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
A couple of things..,

Moisture meters are notoriously inaccurate so use Ken’s finger method by checking several inches into the rootball.

Never dig a hole deeper than the rootball and only use native soil.

The top of the rootball is meaningless, you need to find the root flare and plant that slightly above grade.

How big was the tree? Any pix?

tj
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My comment on perhaps being too wet was mostly based on 1) your irrigation system, 2) Im kind of assuming where you live in Pa gets similar rainfall to Columbus, Ohio which isnt that far away, and 3- I think the "foliage drop" on the bottom of a few is probably due to being too wet. I believe browning from the bottom up is a sign of too much water(thats what people on here told me a while back). My land happens to be fairly wet as I have leaches living in my soil and the water table is usually pretty high. I have a cistern so it is easy to measure how far down to reach water. In addition, overwatering is the number one way people hurt/kill their plants/trees/etc. I am just 4.5 years into this hobby and Ive learned that not much happens in the first year, sometimes 2 years, and even 3-3.5 years. Usually (always in my case, my Horstmanns Siblerlocke Korean Fir, my last holdout, finally TOOK OFF after 3 years of not doing much at all) by year 4 the trees are settled, fill out nicely, and their growth rate is what it is supposed to be. While I generally dont fertilize, I do on occasion. Ive had good luck with Hollytone (and millorganite) and you can use it any time of the year. I bet it would help green those up if that is what you want to happen in the near term. My guess is they will green up naturally in time. This particular "linear mound" has been fertilized on occasion since I dont know how far into the "orginal ground surface" the roots go. I also added a bunch of cow manure when I got rid of my Subaru (see bare spot toward back of mound) about a month or two ago. Let me find a pic of an emerald green that has never been fertilized to see how its color is (from left to right weeping white pine, baby blue eyes, emerald green arborvitae, techney arborvitae (possibly dark green arborvitae, not sure), columnar Norway spruce). These pics were taken on the same day about 2 weeks ago and it does appear the ones that were fertilized are a darker green. As you can see, deer have been snacking on the emerald green.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
jeez.. how did i forget this.. for the next plant ... the rules really arent that much different.. no matter what you are planting ...

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

the base issue with a cauldron of clay ... is the retention of too much water .. like a pot with no drain hole ... and playing that off of a new transplant which needs the water .. ergo ... you plant high.. so just a but of the roots are above the bad hole ... so something has a chance should the rest fail .... [but you should do that perk test.. and see if you actually have a non draining cauldron]

once the plant settles in.. and puts it roots where it wants it ... aka gets established .....then they acclimate to the clay.. and actually grow roots into it .. etc ...

all we are really trying to do.. is get it past that transplant phase ...

ken
Embothrium
3 years ago
'Smaragd' is more drainage sensitive than usual for the species, dig yours up and replant in only the existing soil - without any zones of topsoil, gravel etc. being involved. Because the soil modifications you have made may result in the area immediately around the tree becoming a collection point for water. Same as with a sump.
DeanW45
3 years ago
These plants do just fine in clay. I don't have one myself, but they are all over the place around here. Water it once a week until your winter rains start. It'll do great.
User
3 years ago
I grew them in clay. They were on a bit of a slope and would dry out really fast. I'm pretty sure their growth was a lot slower because I rarely watered them in our hot summers but they looked nice despite that.

Emerald Green Arborvitae in Clay?

Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱

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