Sunday, January 8, 2017

Instant Gratification With Thuja Green Giants

By Scott Bailey


If you need a dense privacy hedge, an attractive windbreak, or a formal border along your drive or boundary line, there is the perfect answer in a new hybrid ornamental. Thuja Green Giants are perhaps the fastest growing of the cypresses. With a graceful and amazingly uniform shape, a growth rate of up to five feet a year, and exceptionally beautiful foliage, this marvel is also virtually care free.

Planted a minimum of five or six feet apart, these giants grow so uniformly and so fast that they soon form an unbroken line of green. Their uniformity gives them a formal look which requires no shaping. As a privacy hedge they are unequaled, and A tall procession of thujas along an estate drive has to be seen to be appreciated.

These vigorous evergreens need space to grow, although being in a row limits their height to about twenty feet and their width to about eight. As a single specimen, they can tower higher than a house and spread twenty-five feet around. They should be planted at least four feet from the property line or a fence, and not closer than fifteen feet to a septic field. Their roots will spread a little farther than the tree itself.

Thujas are evergreens in the cypress family. They are also known as arborvitae, a name which may be more familiar. The hybrids adapt to almost any soil, are insect and disease resistant, and don't need fertilizer once they are firmly rooted in place. Even bagworms leave them alone, as do deer most of the time. Although they are Heat resistant, they do best with regular watering during hot, dry periods. Because the best trees are grown from cuttings, they all look alike.

A dense row of these trouble-free evergreens provides privacy and protection from the wind. It also is an effective noise barrier. If you live in a high traffic area and want to grow vegetables, a hedge like this will shield your yard from up to 90 percent of heavy metals from air pollution.

With their cross-bred nature, the giants are left alone by deer and insect pests. Hardy to -20 degrees Fahrenheit but heat tolerant, too, they can thrive in planting zones 5 to 9. Check optimal planting times for Georgia; planting at the right time of year helps new trees get established and start their extraordinary growth. Browse online sites for information on size, price, shipping costs, and guarantees. You'll also get tips on thuja culture.

By buying direct from a grower, you may find both the best price and the most vigorous trees. Ones sold in containers are advertised as better than ones with burlap-wrapped root balls or sold as 'bare root'. The size of the container caries from nursery to nursery; a six-foot tree can come in a one gallon pot or a seven gallon one. Buying multiple trees cuts the price down, and some sites offer free shipping.

Of course, you can save big if you find a local grower and can pick stock up. But it's true that you can have trees taller than you shipped to your door. In three or four years you can have a magnificent, green, living barrier to whatever you'd like to keep out.




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