Planting between Mature Emerald Cedars
grisdalem
2 years ago
I am in Zone 5b and my backyard is south facing. These emerald cedars were planted 10 years ago with the intention of providing privacy along the fence.
Unfortunately the person we hired planted them too far apart and we do not have complete privacy at the fence line. I believe this is as wide as they are going to get at the base. I have purchased more emerald cedars to plant in the spaces. (They are temporarily in position in the pic). Before I plant, I was wondering if they will survive given the limited space between the mature cedars and if they will look odd. I want to it to eventually be a green privacy wall. Open to other suggestions keeping in mind I want whatever is growing to be a similar height to the privacy screens, and rabbits are also an issue.
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Comments (7)
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Attempting to plant 10 Emerald Arbovitaes in my yard for privacy...
Comments (24)Perhaps, but I was directing those comments at what you had said. As for trails through swamps, they're everywhere. Florida, where I spent most of January, has miles upon miles of such trails, almost all boardwalks. They really do a good job of it down there. But more generally, I see no reason to paint oneself into a corner making unwarranted statements that such and such a plant community type is not one which would have trails. I don't even get where such a thought would be coming from. New Hampshire and Wisconsin would be very similar in terms of tree types. Maine might be an even closer fit. I know there are significant groves of native Thuja o. there, as well as in Vermont. Just a general note for anyone persistent enough to still be reading........Thuja o. is always known as a "swamp tree" because it has the rare ability to handle very high water tables. But in the best areas for its growth-and these tend to be limestone areas-it will happily grow up over hill and dale. Those are the best areas, and although my land is just barely beyond the limestone-near-the-surface belt, it is still strongly in the area where "cedar" does real well. Again, you'd almost have to have been from such an area to have any idea what I'm referring to. These are rare and otherwordly sites, what few remain. The coefficient of conservatism-no, not a political term, lol-but rather a measure of ecological value in the environment has this tree at 9 out of 10. That's very high....See MoreAre my Emerald Cedars browning near the bottom?
Comments (12)Did any of your cedars die? We have recently planted seven cedars (three Emerald and 4 Degroot Spires) even though it is not recommended that we plant them in summer months due to high die rate but we are going to baby them and make sure that they get enough moisture and sun. We are concerned that when we planted the Emeralds our grading did not support enough pooling of water at the root circumference and they were looking a bit "weepy". We are also going to ramp up the watering to ensure they get a good soak twice a week. Hoping to see them rebound. No brown or yellow just kind of droopy. The Degroots just went in and we are really babying those as well. They are very beautiful and sculptural. I would love to get more of those....See MorePrivacy tree recommendations - Emerald Cedars are SLOW!!!
Comments (27)Thanks Vina. Actually your comment is quite timely as we have ended up moving. A number of factors made our wants for the house too incompatible with the space we had. We have moved to a ravine lot backing onto a creek and it was well worth the time and money. With the house you see in the picture, I had made some last ditched attempts at privacy. I pulled out all the Emerald Cedars and removed the maple tree. I sourced out a local grower of Hetz wintergreen and planted them last year. I suspect the Wintergreens will grow much faster than the Emerald Cedars and give more privacy. Best of luck with you efforts with the deciduous trees! Dale....See MoreAre these emerald cedars?
Comments (8)I would have to say the opinon expressed above is just that - an opinion - and is not one that you can find readily supported by any other reliable horticultural (non-commercial) source. I am likely just as familiar with these trees in our climate as the previous poster and probably just as well traveled in the area and I have seen few, if any, indications that this tree will exceed 25'. In fact, I can count on my fingers the number of plantings of Smaragd I have seen that reach close to 25' - 20' or less over an extended time period is far more likely to be a typical pattern. And that is in a very beneficent climate like the PNW that encourages a lot of vigorous growth. As with many conifers, growth rate while still young tends to be more rapid than that as the trees reach a mature age and size. Once Smaragd hits about 12-15', growth will slow significantly. I doubt anyone on these forums needs to be concerned about Smaragd/Emerald arborvitaes reaching 40' in their lifetime!!...See Moregrisdalem
2 years agogrisdalem
2 years agoSara, thank you for your idea. That is an option. I just wasn't sure if it would look okay or how to tie it in to the edge of the bed. See pics below.
Embothrium
2 years agogrisdalem
2 years ago
cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
2 years ago
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Sara Malone Zone 9b