Thuja Green Giant

Thuja Green Giant: Fastest Growing Privacy Evergreen

Ideal for creating a privacy screen in your garden, the Thuja Green Giant is one of the most popular trees for blocking out the view of neighbors as well as noise. As one of the fastest-growing evergreens, it’s perfect for homeowners looking for a speedy and cost-effective solution to any privacy concerns they may have. The thuja green giant can be used as a replacement for a traditional fence, or to provide more coverage for an existing one, making it a versatile arborvitae suitable for a wide range of gardens.

Why Choose Green Giant Arborvitae?

The thuja green giant stands out from other evergreens, especially as a privacy hedge, thanks to its growing speed and lush foliage. It’s also easy to maintain and doesn’t require much specialist care, especially if you plan to let it grow for a number of years to come. For more information about all the benefits of choosing a green giant for your next planting project, see below:

Speedy Growth

Thuja green giants can grow between three and six feet each year after the plant is properly established, making it one of the fastest-growing evergreens available on the market. For this reason, it’s particularly popular amongst homeowners looking to buy a smaller tree at a lower cost that won’t take too long to reach its full desired height. It also means that if the hedge ever needs trimming back, the original height can easily be achieved after just a few years.

Attractive and Dense Foliage

Evergreen shrubs all have the ability to bring an extra lushness to a garden’s landscape, but thuja hedges draw the eye more than most. Thanks to their lush foliage, densely packed branches and elegant shape, they can easily help you to maintain your garden’s well-manicured appearance. Once thujas have been established, they grow to a point to create a conical silhouette. This means that the top branches are usually sparser, so even taller trees don’t overwhelm the perimeter of your garden.

Resistant to Deer

In some areas, deer can pose a significant risk to gardens, so having perimeter hedging that resists deer is essential. Thuja green giant shrubs typically don’t attract deer, unlike many other soft evergreens, as the taste of them isn’t particularly appealing. However, to make sure deer don’t bypass your thujas and enter your garden, consider spraying your hedge with deer repellent as an extra precaution. If you have space, planting two rows of thuja evergreen trees can create a dense barrier between deer and your garden, keeping them from passing the perimeter.

Resilient and Adaptable

Shrubs that are sensitive to changes in climate or sunlight can pose significant problems to homeowners. Fortunately, thuja green giants are very resistant to frost (up to minus 20 degrees) and can grow in almost any type of soil, including clay-rich and sandy soil types. The only soil likely to cause problems for your thuja hedge is one that is permanently water-logged, but in general, thujas can grow in soil that is wet for much of the year.

While thujas grow best in full sun, they can also be planted in 50% shade. If your area is slightly more shaded, your green giant shrubs should still tolerate the conditions, but they may grow more slowly or look sparser.

How to Plant a Thuja Green Giant

As a large landscape tree, you will need to prepare your garden before planting thujas. It’s best to begin by measuring the section of your garden where you’d like your thuja hedge to grow, as this will help you to decide how many trees are needed to cover the total length.

You can plant your thuja green giant trees at any time of year, provided that the ground isn’t frozen. To prepare the soil, you should dig a hole that’s roughly three times the width of your tree’s root ball. The hole should be a similar depth to the root ball, however. If you’re planting a long hedge of thujas, you also have the option of digging a trench rather than individual holes, as this can help you to keep your privacy screen straight. Make sure you space your trees correctly within the trench to avoid overcrowding.

If you come across weeds with roots while digging, these should be removed in their entirety, especially if they’re large. It’s not necessary to remove stones, as these can assist with proper drainage, and you may want to mix in some slow-release fertilizer to give your thujas an extra boost.

Next, position your thuja tree in the hole – it should be around an inch below ground level and the soil underneath should be firm to touch, otherwise your shrub may sink too deep. Fill in the remaining space in the hole using the soil you dug up, making sure you’re pushing the soil down throughout this process to prevent excess air from becoming trapped.

Caring for Your Thuja Hedge

Providing your thuja green giant with proper care will allow it to thrive and grow more quickly in your garden. Luckily, thujas don’t require too much specialist care and can survive even in sub-optimal conditions. However, to provide your thuja hedge with everything it needs, consider the following:

Watering

During warm weather when there is little rain, your green giant arborvitae will need watering twice a week in the first month after planting. Afterward, it can be watered once a week until later in the fall. If the weather is cool when you plant your thujas, watering once a week should be enough. It’s important to water your hedge regularly in the first few years after planting, as this will help to maximize growth. If you live in a particularly dry area, or want your hedge to be low maintenance, consider installing a trickle hose or drip line.

Fertilizing

Fertilizing your emerald green arborvitae isn’t essential, but it can help to speed up growth. One of the best times to fertilize is when you’re initially planting your trees, as the fertilizer can be mixed in with the soil and left alone. But if you are going to be trimming your thujas relatively often, or simply want the quickest growth rate possible, it can be wise to fertilize regularly.

Evergreens typically need nitrogen-rich fertilizers for best results, but choosing one specially developed for evergreen shrubs would be ideal. The time of year you fertilize your plants will depend on the type of fertilizer you choose. For example, slow-release fertilizers can be added to soil annually, while granular fertilizers may perform best when used in the early spring or summer. Water-soluble fertilizers need to be used on a monthly basis and may be easier to apply to your trees using a hose.

Pruning

Thuja evergreens are very low maintenance, but the way you need to prune your trees will depend on your garden setup and the effect you’re trying to achieve.

Single thujas in open spaces: If you have a standalone thuja that isn’t part of a hedge, there is no need to prune it. Your thuja will naturally grow with a pyramid shape, so there’s no need to trim branches in order to achieve this elegant silhouette. You can, however, prune the tree if it’s getting too large for the space it’s in, or if you want to make sure its foliage is densely packed and looks neat. Trimming your thuja once a year should help you to achieve this.

Thuja hedges: Thujas that are part of a hedge also don’t require much maintenance, but for best results, you should try and trim them at least once or twice a year. It may be tempting to wait for your hedge to become overgrown before trimming it, but it’s best to trim your trees as they’re growing to encourage dense foliage and even shapes. Allowing your hedge to grow too wild can make it difficult to achieve the shape you want and may result in sparser growth towards the top. If you want to create a hedge that gives you complete privacy, you can allow your evergreens to grow together at the sides.

Windbreak barriers: If your green giants are acting as a barrier against wind or the noise from a busy road, you may decide to avoid trimming them altogether, or only trim them every few years. This is because it’s best if your trees grow together densely and their appearance may matter less than thujas acting as a decorative perimeter. However, you may want to trim their height once they have grown tall enough.

FAQs

How far apart do I plant thuja green giants? Thuja trees should be planted between 5 and 10 feet apart when creating a hedge. However, if you have a lot of room, you may decide to space trees 8 to 12 feet apart and add a second row of shrubs at a distance of 5 feet. If you’re planting your thujas near an existing fence, keep in mind that the trees could grow to be 15 feet wide, making it wise to leave plenty of room to avoid damaging your fence in the future.

When should I plant thuja green giants? You can plant your thujas at any time of year, as long as the ground isn’t frozen. However, it’s best to plant thujas during the spring months if possible, as the trees will be more likely to fully establish themselves and take root before any frost occurs. You’re also more likely to achieve growth more quickly when planting in the spring, as the tree will be established for the growing season.

How fast do thuja green giants grow? Thuja green giants have a rapid growth rate and can grow between 3 and 6 feet each year. However, some thuja owners achieve even quicker growth with a careful care routine and proper use of fertilizers.
Do deer eat thuja green giant? Thujas are widely known to be unattractive to deer and are unlikely to be eaten by them. In areas with particularly high deer populations, you can also consider using deer repellent on your thujas for extra protection.