I have 9 Thuja GGs planted along the north side a Privacy fence, which is only 5 feet just north of a Brick, two story house. They receive mid day and full afternoon until sunset direct sun. In the winter mine stay green and do not show any bronze color change of the leaves My native soil is a dark, slightly acidic Clay. These trees benefit from the entire length of the fence area being slightly sloped upward and The soil along most of the fence has some builder's sand that had not been cleaned up by the workers who built the neighbor's house. This area is in the north east corner of my lot. My trees started out as one gallon pot sized trees, which were 12-15 inches tall and very nicely shaped and filled out when I planted them. These trees have been very happy, have grown to a height of 9 feet tall in Summer of 07. I watered them often especially in drought times, but did not begin feeding them Osmokote until the Spring of 07, which was early in the 3rd year since I planted them. When I was not feeding them the previous years, they sent up very narrow shoots of new growth each spring and fall. This new growth never seemed to fill out very nicely and by the time they reached 5 feet tall, they began to look pretty unbalanced. Once I started giving them the Osmokote, though, they began growing faster and all the very thin top half of the tree began to fill out more quickly. This made the trees appear much more balanced and more like one would expect the trees to be. Since my trees were watered, but not fed for the first two years they only grew about one additional foot the first year, and two feet the second year after I first planted them. When I began giving them the Osmokote, they not only grew more filled in tops; they also, grew an additional 5 feet in one year. I have a friend whose trees are planted in clay with out the benefit of added builder's sand, and they are planted on the South side of a privacy fence, which slopes from west to east at a fairly significant grade. At least half of her trees have needed to be replaced due to them sufficating along the lower part of slope, where the clay soil remainded wet for extended periods of time. They were never in standing water. The problem happened because runoff water kept the soil too moist for too long of times. The replacement trees she planted lived, and it appears they lived under the same conditions due to them being 5 gallon potted sized trees which were already 6 feet tall, when she planted them, and so we figured large of a tree needs more moisture than the original 12-15 inch tall ones, which died for her, needed.

Thank you one and all for the time given to helping me with this question. I'm new to Gardenweb and I can hardly believe what others do for one. I will have to return the good intentions myself. I'm glad dying of old age was mentioned. I see that patience is a key to growing a juniper hedge. I didn't really realize that. I really prefer the look to that of arborvitae for a hedge, but I now think I will play with juniper as specimen trees or formal entrance trees. Some of the other varieties mentioned and pictured are truly gorgeous and worth waiting for. I have become a fan of the species in the process. I need something faster growing for privacy. Does anyone have any experience with the Thuja "Green Giant" Arborvitae? How about growing up north? It says its hardy to -15. We're in Zone 4b to 5a (-15 to -25 potentially) however we're right next to the Mississippi River in NE Iowa and protected from wind by the bluffs, with some ground warming due to the river. Perhaps that would make a difference. Does the Thuja really grow as fast as the claims? I have lots of composted sheep barn cleanings running wild with redworms that could be mixed with the sandy loam soil to hopefully speed it up. Otherwise, I just came across on old thread from 2003 called "Neighbor says no to fence..need HELP with fast growing barrier." It was very helpful. If the Thuja is not adaptable to my zone, I'm thinking of putting up livestock panels and growing common woodvine on them. No winter privacy, but thems the breaks. I have lots that grows 30 feet a year on the side of our stone building. Don't want it there, so I have lots of material to work with. I'll just have to keep up with the trimming, which I don't mind. To block a few close windows of the neighbors I need to reach about 20 feet. Again, if Thuja's not right perhaps another fast grower I've heard about, "Emerald Green Arborvitae" would work. Otherwise, I'd like to find something fast like Lombardy Poplar and columnar, but stronger than Lombardy and hopefully a little longer lived, as it will be quite close to the neighbor's house. Unlike the guy in the previous mentioned thread, I have a lot of leeway with the neighbor. I own the driveway entrance to his garage. No problem. I just don't like huge new houses built right on the lot line with windows overlooking our back yard. Green diplomacy is the solution, I think. Bless you all for making this a remarkable forum and website.

'Green Giants' are a hybrid form of arborvitae noted for fast growth. They are rapidly becoming a viable substitute for Leyland cypress, which tends to be short-lived and plagued with a variety of problems. GG's are not all that fastigiate, having a growth habit that more resembles a Leyland than a typical arborvitae - expected size at maturity could be as much as 50-60 feet with a spread of 10-15'. Form is conical (like a Christmas tree) rather than columnar or fastigiate. 10 y.o. specimens at my nursery are pushing 20' tall with a 8' spread. Once established, annual growth is reputed to be 3-5', which the nursery trees (planted) seem to be achieving easily. The parent of this plant is Thuja plicata, or western red cedar and this tree will easily hit 60-80' in its lifetime with a spread that can get as wide as 35' or more, depending on trunk structure. While you can hedge them at a desired height, this will take a great deal of maintenance to maintain. Hedging is the only reason to be cutting back the leader(s) or the topmost growth. If you want height, leave the top alone and gently shear back the side shoots/foliage. This will accomplish a similar result as with the shearing of Christmas trees - a somewhat narrower form but with dense side branching and an appearance of fullness. Young GG's do present a lanky, sparse appearance, much like young Leylands do. Maturity will help them to fill in and become more "tree-like".

This sounds like a job that you might have considered saying "NO" to. I'm serious! Why don't you tell us about your procedures in the past? There are really lots of methods to getting the job done, but plenty of ways to guarantee failure. Thuja are typically propagated in the fall/early winter when they are fully dormant. That gives you plenty of time to do some research and to get a propagation area established somehow. You know, in your area, a greenhouse is not an optional piece of fancy equipment when one is tasked with propagating hundreds of woody cuttings. It's too cold where you are to rely on a covered cold frame...something that is done successfully in warmer parts of the country. Though Thuja will be perfectly happy in a winter environment of 40 to 50 degrees (even colder), they will root faster and at a higher percentage if bottom heat is provided. I'd suggest that you propagate the cuttings in something very coarse textured and fast draining. The medium that you eventually pot the rooted cuttings in should be a typical bark based nursery mix. Don't use the one gallon cans for propagation. They will take up an enormous amount of space and medium. Start them out in some small plastic containers that you can pile in a flat for easy moving. (See the attached link for an example of what I mean.) Anyway, good luck to you and I hope you can find some good information on the internet regarding "Propagation of Thuja". If you need some help finding a few good websites, let me know. Here is a link that might be useful: