I did not begin to fertilize my GGs until the 3rd spring after I planted them. After fertilizing with Osmokote, I noticed that the sparce new top growth began to fill in much more quickly. Now I fertilize them with the Osmokote both in the spring, and in the fall. For your GGS, watch to see how they are growing. When you begin to see that their top new growth remains looking fairly sparce for more than a month or so, then you could try giving them an application of Osmokote. Afterwards, watch how the trees react over the next few months to the feeding. If you like the way your GGs respond then do a second application next spring.

IMHO .... topping is an endless, life changing job ... remove the terminal shoot ... and ALL PLANTS will regenerate new ones ... period ... ergo .. every few years.. you will be up there removing more .. and ... every one you remove.. will be replaced by 3 to 5 ... unless you go up the year after each pruning .. and remove them ... that said... how are you going to do this at 15 feet??? ... rent scaffolding???? .. even with an standard 8 foot ladder.. you will have to be 7 feet tall ... and wielding some type of very sharp tool to make the cuts ... so .. in my estimation ... maintaining them at 15 feet is going to be problematic .... now.. on the other hand .... waiting 25 years for emeralds to get to 15 feet is going to be the opposite problem ... you actually need at least 3 plans for what you want to accomplish .... first... what is the fastest to grow.. [ergo fastest to die] plant that will help you out in the first 5 years or so .... maybe. god forbid i say this ... poplars ... plant those on the property line .... they will be sacrificed in 5 to 10 years ... that last year that they are within your capability to take down yourself .... yes.. they are deciduous ... but they will provide a screen of sorts.. even bare ... second.. the 5 to 10 year plan ... plant the GGiants in 3 to 5 feet ... and by the time the poplars go down ... they will be of size to take over .... then .. in front of the plain green plants.. there are a whole slew of slower growing ... arbs and chams that vary color .. blues.. yellows.. variegated.... as well as growth rates and textures .... lol.. you dont mention the size of your lot .... so this might not work in suburbia .... also .... the closer to the windows you work .... the smaller the plant is ... i presume they need to be 15 feet... because the grade falls off toward the road .... if planted closer to the window.. perhaps you can get a much smaller plant for the same purpose .... how close to plant ... how much money do you have .... how big are they to start with .. below is a picture of my GG planted as 6 inch rootings in 2 inch peat pots in 4/2000 .... i think they are spaced 8 foot on center .... too cold to run out and verify that today ... they will never grow to growth rate claims .... i think i am getting about 3ft per year.. but it took 3 years for them to grow the roots to generate that rate ... BTW ... they root easily ... any chance you have some rooting hormone... milk jugs.. gal plastic bags.. and a very bright area ... along with some potting soil .. or even better perlite??? i know you have the other plants .... for a $15 investment... the cost of one plant.. you might be able to have a hundred more plants by next fall ... good luck ken PS: anyone have a better suggestion than a stinkin poplar???? maybe some white pines .... 3 to 5 feet per year

I am pretty sure that I have seen them at Lowe's in past years-- As much as I like to support the smaller businesses, I can't complain about the quality of the plants I have gotten there. I have also gotten good healthy trees at Strader's and Darby Creek nurseries. I had the problem of wanting trees to screen but could not grow too tall because of overhead wires. I called around to every nursery in the phone book till I found one who had what I needed.

your lawn looks well fertd .... inside a year or two... the GG will have roots out under that sod... and get everything it needs ... they ... next year.. start cutting beck with watering ... we want them reaching out.. and growing roots ... not going all 'needy' on you ... do keep checking soil moisture... water in drought... but less ... and by the following year... they shoudl be free range ... DO NOT BE SURPRISED.... depending on severity of winter... if you dont get another round of interior yellowing ... .. it can.. and probably will continue to do such.. until they are fully estyablished ... and you will know when they are fully established.. when they stop doing this.. lol ... but.. they will do it ... forever... in various amounts every year ....... no conifer holds its leaves forever ... and interior ones are the oldest.. and usually end up getting shaded out ... ken hey.. i never gave you pix.. from 6 inch plugs in 2000 ... 2005 2007 2009 2012