Gene, you're one smooth talkin' fella.

Here are some facts I know:
40 degrees is cold enough for dormancy in your garage for any plant that requires a chilling period. 30 days is the minimum time a plant needs this chilling period (40 F or below).

The plants need a dormancy period or they're likely to die.

You are right on the money about planting these with a larger root system which is something hardly discussed ever in my years of being active on these forums. I truly believe it will make a difference.

For 30 foot trees and spacing, try eight feet apart. 6-8 is recommended for screening so I'd go with eight.

You I see are aware they continue growing after 30' but, eight feet is not arguable.

Don't plant under other trees, power-lines, near concrete areas or within less than 15 feet from your home, structures, etc -

Follow your plan and when they have a 5-gallon root-system, plant them in Spring only! This give the root system a better chance than if fall planted which is fine to do in warmer climates, but not yours. It can be done, but Spring is better-suited to your situation.

When you finally do plant, dig your holes real wide so the roots take off! And mulch them at least initially for a few years. The plants need a good watering about once a week whether you do it or it rains. Water this way for two years, then they are on their own. No fertilizer needed ever.

See ya Gene,

Dax

Are these unrooted cuttings you're working with? If so, I understand what you're trying to do. If the plants are rooted, I see no reason not to plant in their eventual spots. Protection would then be advised from rodents, deer, wind possibly.

I don't know how big your plants are but 5 gal. is a pretty large container size for most cuttings I've seen. Too large a container=better chance of overwatering=root rot. Also, if you do end up using the pails, a drainage hole or three will be needed in the bottom of each one.

Generally, close plant spacing encourages height growth, at least in young plants. Are you intending to use the trees as a screen? If so, I'd go ten feet on center. As far as a thirty foot height, from everything I've read on GG's, they're gonna eventually exceed that. Not sure if that matters in your situation. I'd not get into pruning them or giving them a flat-top at some point. Lots of work, bad for the tree, and most of all IMO, completely unnecessary with arbs. The one exception is in the creation of formal hedges but that would eventually be LOTS of work with GG's. I'm assuming that's not your goal.

Anyway, come on back if you have anymore thoughts.

+oM

Great feedback conifers and wisconsitom, Thanks a lot. I have decided to go though with this plan. I have prepaired my buckets today. A couple inches of river rock to cover the bottom of the bucket so that the soil will not clog the 4 drainage holes at the very bottom of the bucket. about 90 degree spacing. Compost from the Home Depot for soil. All I need to lnow now is ....

What grow light specifications would one need to do this right??
Should a guy put the lights on a timer for the winter or basicly equal the sunshine of the day??

If the mature height of the tree is said to be 60', would planting them closer together shorten them or cause them to possably grow taller. ie. If they recomend 4' to 5' apart for a quick privacy screen (this is my goal, 6' to 8' for a row of trees, what would 3' apart do to them in terms of mature height and overall health??

Now that I am getting real seriouse about these trees, Mama, (my wife) is now looking all over the net to try to choose some Hedges for the front yard. She is real big on privacy. Any recomenations for some 8' to 12' hedges that would grow quickly and survive the Wyoming winters??

Thanks again and I hope you all are having a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend. Please don't forget to take a moment to remember our troops and be thankful for the sacrifices they and their families have made for our freedoms.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene

"would planting them closer together shorten them or cause them to possably grow taller"

No difference - height growth wouldn't be significantly affected. Spacing has more effect on side branch growth, with longer branches at wide spacing, and shorter at close spacing. At very close spacing, the side branches will shade each other out, leaving a thin, bare stem between the trees, with all the branches going out sideways from the line of trees.

Resin

Hi Gene,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

The lighting situation in a garage for overwintering is like so... A light on for an hour or two a day is all they need (a timer would be great).

Come spring as the plants warm up in your garage, then flip the timer so the lights have at least equal to the natural amount of sunlight, outdoors, at that time. Open the garage doors on warm or average temp days and of course keeping the doors closed as needed for a safety net is the other reason a garage works very well. Keep the doors closed at night.

Keep the plants in the garage and treat them as I mention above until all danger of frost has passed in your area.

For outdoor aftercare, after you've first potted up these plants, keep them in partial sun/shade for two entire years, then they can be kept in full sun after that. A small homemade shade structure such as (just an example of thousands) would be to attach a shade cloth to a deck and create a slanted "tent" by attaching the shade cloth to the ground with garden stakes. Of course there are many ways to achieve shade. Another perfect place for freshly-potted plants is under the canopy of a large tree. Filtered light is perfect but late afternoon sun and shade during the day also is just as good. Just be sure to limit the amount of strong noontime-till mid-afternoon sun.

Good luck! You don't need it!

And as Resin suggests, the further you space them apart the better. If I were to do this, I'd space them 10 feet apart for a much more attractive screen with, less "bare spots" from the side/lateral branches - and, a much more tree-like form making your screen.

Regards,

Dax

Could I plant the green giant under large trees we already have? The trees we have are large but have no lower branches and we would like a privacy screen between us and the neighbors.
THANKS

tntpark,

We've got some purple Lilacks that do exactly what it sounds like you want. Some huge Cottonless Cottonwoods on the north side of the house (front) have about a 10 - 15 foot long thicket of Lilacs filling up the 6' - 8' gap between the lawn and the bottom branches. Works great as a windbreak as well. Oh yeah, awsome snowfence too!

Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene from Wyoiming

Hello again,

OK, I got the trees in thier buckets. placed them against the north side of an east/west running fence. The fence provides shade from about 9 or 10 in the am until about 4 or 5 in the pm. Also has about 1" gaps between the 6" to 8" pickets (didn't measure).

The trees came in plastic bags, no dirt on the roots, and curled, but they were green. After planting, they are still curled over.

Question: Should I put sticks or something to support the trees? OR will they stand up on thier own??

I also have some pics but don't know how to post them. Where are the instructions for how to post pics in this forum? Or, can someone tell me how to post the pics?

Thanks again and
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene From Wyoming

Maybe I figured out how to post the pics, .... Let's see

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:731305}}

will this work??

Here is a link that might be useful:

How do you guys post your pics in the message??

[IMG]http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x268/Mellowmoon1/Trees/000_0456.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x268/Mellowmoon1/Trees/000_0455.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x268/Mellowmoon1/Trees/000_0454.jpg[/IMG]

Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene From Wyoming

Gene, To post a photo in your message, just log into your Photobucket album, and click on the photo you want to post. When it displays the pic, you will see down on the righthand side the tag you need to copy and paste inside your message to display the photo. Hope this helps.

Gene...

Use the HTML tag... Not the IMG Code.

OK, Let's see if this will work then.

I got the trees in thier buckets. placed them against the north side of an east/west running fence. The fence provides shade from about 9 or 10 in the am until about 4 or 5 in the pm. Also has about 1" gaps between the 6" to 8" pickets (didn't measure).

The trees came in plastic bags, no dirt on the roots, and curled, but they were green. After planting, they are still curled over.

Question: Should I put sticks or something to support the trees? OR will they stand up on thier own??

Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene from Wyoiming

Good pics. first of all, stake them, so they will harden off in a straight up growth form.

Keep the pots checked in the morning sun to be sure they do not get too hot. Then also monitor to make certain that the prevailing winds are not blowing against the foliage.

I planted some 5 gallon potted size 'Green Giants three years ago, on the north side of a 6 foot privacy fence which is between the my 'Green Giants' and our neighbor's two story house. There is a line of tall and broad red tip photinia shrubs growing directily east of the east end of my row of Green Giants. They get lots of morning shade, noonday overhead sun, and afternoon sun shines on them from the west end of the row.

My trees do great. They do not even turn red in the winter like my friend's do; who's trees are planted on the South side of a privacy fence.

Since you are in zone 4, I think yours are planted in the perfect location, as long as you do as described for them in the winter, and afterward once planted in the ground you protect them from leaf dryout from wind and daytime sun in the winter.

In the summer do every thing you can to shade the pots so the roots do not bake. It is good that you are using white pots to help with that issue, just check them often, and be prepared to shade the pots more if they do begin to heat up too much in the mornings.

Yes, great pics! I agree with katrina on all points. But I'd also like to add, watch those rabbits (if you have them that is)! I am so disgusted with the 50 18" green giants I planted last fall, thinking they would eventually be a great privacy screen. The ones that have not been browned out totally by the winter wind were chomped to the ground by the rabbits. We know it was not deer because we fenced our whole backyard in and it's still happening. And I even caught one in the act. They make a sharp, clean cut, almost as if someone pruned it right off. The rabbits really seem to have a taste for these, and I probably have less than 10 left that are not chomped off at the ground. Just when I think they will start taking off, another one gets chomped. So watch those rabbits, and good luck to you!

Hello and thanks very much for all the tips and advise! As far as I can tell... the trees are doing great. Some are showing new growth and ALL are still very green. For the first 2 - 3 weeks I was watering every other day. Now I have backed off to 2 - 3 times per week. I have staked them up, (a couple will need taller stakes soon).

The first pics were taken on 6/14/07, the day after planting, about 7 am. Next weekend, 7-14-07, I will take another set. I figure once a month photos will really help me watch thier progress.

I will be happy to post them here IF you all are interested. I hope to keep this string going until these trees are well established in the ground.

Thanks again for all the help and support! and
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene from Wyoming

Well Hello again,

I post this info for a few reasons,
1. Anyone who wants info on how to grow Thuja Green Giant Hybred can see how I am doing it, and maybe use some or all of this info in thier own application.
2. So that IF I have any problems or am doing something wrong, someone who has more experience with these trees can give me any suggestions, helpfull advise, or more growing tips to optimise this project, can do so with full knowledge of the tree's history.
3. In the event that somebody might have an interest in this particular project, because Zone 4 is supposed to be just a bit cold for this particular hybred, they too can watch the progress of these trees.
4. Thusfar, this is the only documentation of this project.

It's now March 1st and spring is right around the corner 'round here. I figure another month or so, and we will be out of danger for any frost and these trees can go back outside.

Before coming in last fall, they did manage to get a little frost on them at least a couple times, as far as I can remember anyway. However, that doesn't seem to have harmed them. They do not seem to have grown much in the past 4 months. But they are all still green. Some slight discoloration has occured. It is difficult to see in the photos.

Wintering conditions: Lights were timed to aproximate daylight hours throughout the winter, has been increased by about 1 1/2 hours over the past month or so.
Tempurater: About mid January through the 1st of February, backed the temp down to get below 40F - ranged from just over freezing to almost 40F untill late Feb when the temp has been comming up. Now the temp is up to about 55F to 60F. Outdoor temps thus far, have not yet gotten above 60, only a few 50s, mostly 30s and 40s. Overnight lows still in the teens and 20s, with the exception of storms passing through when is gets much colder still.
Watering: Once I got the temp below 40, I watered only about once a month or less, determined by the soil dryness or moistness. Now back up to watering once every 1 or 2 weeks. Also made sure to wet down foliage at every watering.

Any further tips or advise will be much apriciated.

Agian I would like to thank all of you who have read my posts and especially those who have offered advise and provided invaluable information.

Thank You very much and have a
GREAT DAY!!!
Gene in Wyoming

Here are the pics of the trees that will bring you up to date: enjoy

{{gwi:327659}}

{{gwi:327661}}

MellowMoon,
thank you for great pictures.
Just one more advise though. Make sure, that your cuttings are not planted too deep. I know, it is hard to tell, your future trees are so young. I would make sure that, if you lightly scratch the surface next to a trunk, you see roots. In case you do not see roots in 1/16 of an inch of soil, they planted too deep, which is extremely detrimental to their growth rate and future well being. Remember, trees must have so called "root flare" out of the soil, slightly wider part of the trunk right before it meets the root system.Never cover root flair with mulch, keep it 3 inches away from trunk in order for air to move into the soil. Roots grow in space occupied by the air in soil!
As your cuttings are so small, and they do not have "a trunk" so to speak of, one could easily plant them too deep ( for such small trees 1/8" could be too deep. Good idea to stake them. I would make sure, that stake goes deeper into the soil- to hold the cutting without strong root system yet, however, I would only tie the cuttings to the stakes as low, as possible, at a soil level. The idea is, when trees exposed to a wind rocking their crown, they develop so called " anchor roots" which will secure them from topping over otherwise.The trees, which tied down at planting time, do not form strong anchor roots, and will grow without them, until the strong winds uproot them easy. The new way of thought is to NOT steak planted trees in general; in case of bare rooted plants and cases, like yours- small cuttings- place ties very low on the trunk and steak, as close to the ground as possible. Make sure, there is a space between a tie and the trunk of the tree to allow the trunk to fatten up, without being constricted by a tie.Trees have a vascular system- the same way, as we are.(If you place a band around your arm or leg tight, you will restrict fluids flow in that part of your body, which will lead to bad things eventually)
Do not forget to check on ties often and loosen the ties, as your trees are growing bigger.When you notice, that trees can hold themselves, remove the ties as soon as you can.
Good luck, and thank you for planting trees! I wish everyone was like you!

Gene,
forgot to mention: when your cuttings will be out for the season, I would lightly shear them to stimulate growth and brunching, just take 1/16 of an inch all over each cutting, do not cut the top leader!

Hi everyone I just found this sight today I was looking for info on the GG I'm wanting to plant six on the hill in my backyard for a little privacy. I have a very small yard and that hill amd my deck take up amost all of it, if I'm standing at the bottom its about 6ft. high and slopesdown about 18 ft. I'm planning on planting about 5 ft. down and 10 ft. apart then come down 6 to 10 ft. and plant a cleveland pear in between each GG. I am buying bigger trees 5 to 6 ft. the nurseryman said instead of thuja GG I'd do better with the thuja plicata he says its only slightly slower growing than a GG and the faster grower sometimes the top will whip and grow with a bend in it. I have not had any luck finding much info on the thuja plicata so any help will be greatly appreciated as im wanting to get started as soon as possiable. Thanks Larry

Larry/Lwc1,
here is some info for you to get started on Thuja Plicata
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/t/thupli/thupli1.html
In general, it is a graceful, but a very tall tree eventually.
I think, it might be a little bit too big for your yard,
you probably can"afford" one as a specimen somewhere in the far corner, but 6 of them will be overwhelming. You better of planning a variety of plants for a screening, it does not have to be a "hedge" to give you privacy, and unless your home is very formal, I would not go for too much symmetry and "order", like planting one type of tree in equal intervals between the other type of evergreens. On the other hand, if you are a military person and want your little "army" of evergreens, I would consider Arborvitae "Hetz Wintergreen" -grows up to 30ft 5-6+ spread, stays green in winter (not bronze, like others)
www.plantsinc.org/Evergreen_files/image006.jpg

Hi,
I too am trying to plant a very fast growing privacy hedge. We have about two acres with a slope on the north side so the neighbor's house sits above our yard. I wanted to plant a row of Green Giants, but am having trouble finding them at an affordable price for the number I feel I need. From what I've read, most of you feel 6-8 feet is good spacing as opposed to the recommended 5 feet is that correct?
My problems are - black walnuts on the neighbor's property just over the line and about a million deer. I heard the green giant has some deer resistance compared to other varieties.
Any suggestions regarding variety if I can't get the GG? Every store seems to carry the Emerald Green. What is the difference between Thuja Occidentalis and Thuja Plicata? Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Tricia

I've switched this message to a new topic (green Giant VS ?) as I think I may be a little off topic here.
Tricia

My Green Giants turned colors:
Planted them Back in June 2007. two are died, two turned yellow on the sides, one has bronze tips.
They are 4-5' trees. soil is wet being on the bottom slope I get the village rain in my yard, had A 4" Drainpipe w/ pea gravel put in before the trees were planted. I ttried 18" trees w/o the trench for drainage but they all died.
I have pic but dont know just yet hoe to load it up here.
Please advise
thanks Gene

Hello, here is my email I have pics but do not know how to load them up on this site yet, heres my email
2toneblu@sbcglobal.net if youd like to see pics & advise thanks alot & looking forward to your input
Gene

Hello Everyone!!!!

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank conifers, wisconsintom, pineresin, hibiscusfreak, franktank232, katrina1, and pursuit for all the very invaluable information that you have shared with me so far. I have learned a lot about what I am doing here. When I started, I didn't know much. I figured, look in the catalog, find what you like, order, put in the ground and be happy. The GG I bought were "gauranteed to grow". First batch died, second batch did not suvive the winter, and the third batch is now doing quite well (I think). Been trying to get these trees going now for 2 years. I'm thinking, one more winter in the garage, and in the ground next spring. However, I am still open to sugestion and eager to LEARN if I am doing it right this time.

Thanks again for all your guys's help!!!

Pursuit, These trees have been in these buckets for a year now. If they are too deep, should I remove some soil??

Two Tone, go to http://photobucket.com/ , sign up, it's free, create an album, upload your photos, then go to your album, view your photos, copy the tags under each photo you want to display in you mesage text and paste there in your message, and wala. all of the following photos are using the A href code.

And now.... here are the photos of my GGs. Photos taken today after they have been outside night and day for about 2 weeks now.

This very first bucket contains a "branch" that fell off, the next 4 buckets are trees from the first 2 batches that died. I have little hope for these 5 trees. But, we'll see;-)

Once again, Thanks for all your help guys, I am pleased with my results thus far.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene in Wyoming

Hello,

My GG babies are somewhat brown at the tips. What would be the most likely cause of this?
Over watering?
Under watering?
Too much Sun?
Not enough Sun?
Can't really tell if it's getting worse, It isn't getting better. The past few weeks have been very rainy, but has dried out greatly over the past week.

The dark green nearer the stem of the branches gets lighter out toward the tips, and most of the tips are a dark brown. Here are a few pics.

I'm pretty sure the buckets have excelent drainage, perhaps too much. When I stick my finger in to the second knuckle, it feels cool and moist, but not wet by any means. I have yet to try this only a few hours after watering them. But I have tried it the next day after watering and it is usually the same as if I waited for days after watering.

Thanks for viewing and
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene in Wyoming

Would like to know where is the cheapest place to buy the Green Giant trees and/or cuttings

i had no problems with botanyshop.com ... 8 years ago ...

ken

Beautiful stuff!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Ren's Wholesale Arborvitae

Lots of good Info posted here. I planted 160 Green Giants last month to create a wind break. So far they are doing well but I am experiencing some browning as well. Not sure what to expect but it has been a good experience so far.

i have recently planted 60 trees. i had them in 3 gallon plastic "buckets" for about a year. they were only about 5-6" when i got them in their cube trays (all 60 were delivered in a box approx 30"x20"x10" !!). in that time they have grown to about 2feet. i did a double, staggered row approx 8' on center.

i found some advice that trying to hand water this many trees or more is difficult to impossible without extreme care/caution. the advice that i followed was to install a drip system.

it consists of 1/2" poly tubing with user installed t's. 1/4" rubber hose then goes right to the trunk of the trees and is terminated with drip emitters. i got 1 gallon/hr emitters.

this is probably the most efficient way to water since the water is delivered at a slow rate right where the plant needs it. i have a timer on the setup that works beautifully. in the last 2 weeks there has been some significant growth. i would highly recommend researching some sort of a drip system. i can give details as to where and what i bought if that does not violate any forum rules.

i am on quite sandy soil. given that i can water from 1 to 7 days a week, with up to 4 watering periods a day, can anyone give me a guesstimation how much and how often i should program the timer for?

i am located in sarnia, ontario, which is accross from port huron michigan 48060, and i believe this is zone 5. i did nothing to protect the trees last winter and they survived fine.

Hello!!!
Long time since my last post. WOW!!! I was suprised to find my string still here.

armstrr-- I would be interested in that drip system info, AND any info on how much water, how often.

scotte70--- The browning tips that I experienced went away. Trees are doing fine now.

gardener365---- Thank you very much!!!

Aaron Williams----- Not sure how long you would be willing to wait, but I will be making some cuttings (probably next spring), and I will be willing to ship some to any of the folks viewing my string just for the cost of shipping. Of course, I will get the roots started first. I got mine from Eburges.com and they replaced all 16 of them twice. I think I paid like $90 for them, ONCE.

To everyone else, Thanks again for all the help and great advise!! Trees have been in the ground now for almost 3 months and as far as I can tell, they're doing great. (PICs to come soon.) I am not expecting a lot of growth this summer because I'm thinking they will spend most of this season getting thier roots out into the soil. When I pulled the 5 gal buckets off, I found very good root balls. Some of them had very long and thin roots all over the outside of the compost clump. I gently removed all the rivver rock from the bottom and dropped them in their holes. Watered like crazy for about a week. Then backed off to about twice a week or so. Now I'm down to about once a week or so. When I do water them, I water each one for about 15 to 20 minutes with the faucet at about 1/4 throttle. I am guessing that is about 1 gallon per 2 - 3 minutes. I should probably measure that so know what the rate REALLY is. LOL I also make sure to totally soak down all the foliage before and after watering each tree.

I'll get the latest photos up as soon as I can get into my photobucket account again.

Thanks again for all your GREAT help and advice AND all the great compliments on the pics as well.
And as always...
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene in Wyoming

Now let's see if I remeber how to post pics.....

[IMG]http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x268/Mellowmoon1/Trees/000_0475.jpg[/IMG]

compared to.....

[IMG]http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x268/Mellowmoon1/Trees/000_0503.jpg[/IMG]

I'd say this...

tj

p.s. use the address that starts something like a href=

Here is a link that might be useful: Foghorn

oops, trying again.....

compared to.....

OK!!! Now that I got that figured out... Here come the pics that will bring all who are interested up to date on these puny little twigs that I am trying to grow into real trees...

I think this link will allow you to see all 42 pics of these trees. All photos are date stamped at the time the photo was taken.
http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x268/Mellowmoon1/Trees/

Same photo with the sign taken out.....

IN the ground

All the woodchips in the tree bed are the old "Cottenless Cottenwood" trees branches and leaves that used to grow on this property. I also got about 4 - 5 cords of firewood. I've managed to throw none of the old plant life away. Just going to use it all. Not really sure if it is more economical because the chipper/shredder is not cheap to rent. However, at least I KNOW the origin of the wood chips, and know that it is high quality chips and mulch.
I'll post more progress pics after the new grass in front of the trees comes in. I expect to see some green sprouts breaking the surface any day now.
Thanks again to all for your interest, help and great advice. Without your help, I may not have gotten this far.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Gene in Wyoming

Hello EVERYONE!!!
It has been a long winter here in Wyoming. I am posting today to get some more helpfull input on these trees I am trying to get growing in my yard. We had a very cold snap in early November and a blizzard came through and burried most of the trees in snow drifts. The drifts stayed all winter long. The last little pieces of ice dissappeared about 2 weeks ago. As the snow melted, I could see that, not only the exposed parts of the trees had turned a rusty brown, but all of the trees' branches had also turned. I noted that at the very bottom of all the trees, there was some green. I am not sure if this green was frozen into the tree or if had begun to come back from brown. After a couple weeks, watering on only the warmest days, I cannot determine if the green I am seeing is increasing, or if I am just, hopefully, optimisticly observing.

I am beginning to think that maybe they did NOT survive the Wyoming winter AGAIN. :-(

These latest pics were taken on March 16... Do you think these trees are dead??? I think I am noticing more and more green, BUT if I am seeing that, it is happening VERY slowly. As stated before, I may just be hoping to see more green and therefore, I am. I will take more pics in late April and compare. Any green that I do see is limited to the bottom and nearer the trunk. I have also noted just today, that at the base of the trunk, on all trees, the "bark" has split vertically, 4 to 6 inches up from ground level. Is this a bad sign???

Any opinions you experienced guys have to offer is greatly appriciated!!

Here's the pics......

You need to grow Thuja occ. 'Wintergreen'/'Hetz Wintergreen'. Those are gonners. They'll probably never acclimate (as you say AGAIN) to your climate.

Dax

I think Dax is probably correct and he would know far better than I, but one suggestion would be to take your fingernail and scrape some stems to see if there is any show of green.

The last pictures are just devestating after so much effort.

Good luck.

Jon

Gene,

Great thread - thanks for keeping it going!

This is pure speculation on my part, and it may not apply to your situation. It looks like there is a street (or parking lot?) on the other side of the fence. If they put snowmelt chemicals there, and if that drains under the fence and into your planting bed (can't see the grade angle from the pics), that could be a potential problem if Thujas are sensitive to the chemicals.

Unless you're set on planting one single type of tree, another option would be to try a few different kinds, and see what grows best in that location.

Nate

Scratch the bark, yes. Wait till June Gene. If they haven't done anything by then, it's time to try a hardier tree.

Good luck man!

Dax

A friend here in MN (zone 4a) had a Thuja Green Giant (GG), but had to remove it due to it starting to grow so late in the season and then not maturing its wood enough to survive the winter.

I agree with Dax that you should try Thuja 'Hetz Wintergreen' (HW). I have a screen of HW and they're a he11 of a plant. You will need to space the HW much closer than the Green Giant since Hetz Wintergreen does not get quite as wide as GG. You should have no hardiness issues with HW at all.
Good luck,
Mike

I have a several thuja green giants that have green buds growing on the branches, I have close to 30 trees but only 6-8 are having the green buds growing.
Most of these trees came from botany & they look great, BUT
the ones purchased at home depot under the name thuja green giant look, smell good also,but have these green buds.
My email is 2toneblu@sbcglobal.net
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

We have 10, 8 year old TGGH trees planted as screening hedge .Trees have attain height of 18-20 ft. ,during strong winds we are afraid the trees may not fall on our house which is 12 ft away.Our yard service provider has advised us not detop thuja trees as he feels the trees will not survive if we detop.

I will appreciate if some one can advise us.
thanks.
Shyam Rekhi, Fallschurch,Varginia

Hi Shyam. Topping the arbs won't kill them, but it will deform them. I'd not do that.

Also, one needs to ask, should one or more of these come down on your house, what's the likely outcome? Trees like this rarely fail in this manner, and when they do, damage is usually not severe. Also, that's what homeowner's insurance is for. Personally, I think you're worrying too much about something that is unlikely to happen.

+oM

except that they were mis-planted in a place too small for a purpose they are not suited for ...

since they were a screen .. then top them.. and then learn how to do it yourself every year or two ....

and then buy the proper tools ... and ladder.. and keep at them ..

you planted what amounts to forest trees in a 12 foot space ... because you read they grew fast [am i right???] .. and now you must pay the piper.. either thru some good exercise.. or hiring the job out ...

as a conifer collector.. and a tree freak.. it is an anathema to suggest topping as a remedy ...

but since all you wanted was a screen .. what the heck ...

next time.. start your own post.. and replies can be mailed directly to your inbox ...

once the big parts are gone.. the yearly pruning should not be all that big a deal.. and some of the most sweet smelling work you will ever do ...

good luck

ken