If the foundation of the house is really sound and does not have any cracks where moisture can collect, there should be no risk to the foundation. I have a healthy respect for trees and the damage they can do, but sometimes I think we are too afraid to have them close to houses. If a tree is well cared for and healthy, there is not much risk. I have seen very, very large trees right next to houses without any apparent problem. In Arlington, VA on 15th street near the Arlington Hospital there is a house with what may be the largest sycamore tree I have ever seen growing within two feet of the foundation of the house. This tree is really magnificnet--it has four trunks and must be 145 feet tall if it is an inch, and the total diameter of the combined tree must be well over 8 or 9 feet. The house must be 65 years old and if there has ever been a problem I never heard about it. Not far away is a tuliptree that must be 8 feet in diameter and again about 145 feet tall and it is no more than 10 feet from a house, problem--I never heard of any. --Spruce

No fertilizer going into winter in general. I bet cold hardy green giants might stand it but why risk having fresh tender growth when winter comes. Far as your branch goes,w/o a pic I say properly prune it back just outside the branch collar. reattaching it would take a grafting like approach and need to be done almost immediately this time of year. Low chance of success and lots of trouble. Sorry for not being more chatty, on the cell.

Agreed. If arbs....any arbs...are happy in their surroundings and in sufficient light. they develop very dense structure on their own. While arbs are one of the plant types suitable for a shearing treatment, this is a lot of work and if you ever decide it's just too much and quit the procedure, you will have very ungainly trees-extremely dense up to the point where you quit the shearing, and quite a bit rangier and thinner beyond. Plus, new, rangier growth will always be erupting from the lower sheared part, and this will not look pleasing. So, if at all possible, go for their normal natural growth form. They screen very well just as is. +oM

Sorry was out of town. Give the arbs some room. All the information is there if you look. The closer you plant the arbs the sooner they will make a hedge but they will continue to grow in diameter since that's their genetic make up. Take a look at photos on Google. You'll see plenty of photos of Techny 8' in diameter. You gotta do what you gotta do. Plus you can prune arborvitae and it regenerates it's "evergreen" foliage from stems without wood with sufficient light. If it were I doing this, I'd space them 10' away from the mature spruce and space them 5' to 6' apart. Just my take and my acceptance to wait for them to make a hedge. +oM, have seen a lot of posters on here in zone 4 with complete rows of dead GG's. Good/great soil certainly will help significantly as will size of root mass at planting time. I imagine you have some pretty good soil up there in Wisconsin on that land? Plus you're a god damn pro at this stuff! ;-) Dax