odSteve
Cool Member
Posts: 68
Joined: Mon May 31, 2021 12:35 am

Re: How To Plant Green Giant Arborvitae?

hi,
Just feeling a little down today so I thought I'd post more observations on my Green Giants. I just feel a little betrayed. I must have read a dozen write-ups on the Green Giants and watched a dozen YouTube videos on them. Never did any of them mention that these Arborvitae turn brown in the winter beyond a bit of bronze coloration on their tips. Now, the beginning of July, a little over a month since I posted my last pics above, they have turned only slightly greener. I don't know if I'm watering them too much, not enough, or if the 4,000 ft elevation is wrong, or the almost constant hot, dry wind is bad for them, or if they just can not recover from the winter's cold regardless of watering and soil prep. Having no experience with Arborvitae, and planting them when they were already brown, its hard to judge what they need to make them happy.

I bought 6 small rooted cuttings of American Pillar Full-Speed -A-Hedge Arborvitae and will see if they will do better. I was told they don't turn brown in winter, but we will see. The Green Giants were not subjected to any environmental stress that was not well within their posted specs but they just don't look like I expect them to look in July. Perhaps I'm learning the hard way why I have not seen them planted anywhere in my city

odSteve
Cool Member
Posts: 68
Joined: Mon May 31, 2021 12:35 am

What can I sprinkle on the ground that will fertilize the Green Giants when I water them? Also I wonder if there might be too much natural lime in the soil? The top 6 inches of soil has a lot of gravel mixed in it and has a gray color to it about the same shade as cement. But that top 6 inches was taken away when the backhoe dug the planting holes for each of the trees. And between 2 to 4 cu ft of potting soil was mixed into the dirt surrounding each Arborvitae. I thought that would be better than me trying to mix my own concoction.

imafan26
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Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I am sorry to hear about your troubles. We do have arbor vitae here. However, the most common one is the Chinese arborvitae which is adapted to my climate. It is evergreen but we have stable temperatures pretty much all of the year. We don't have snow.

I don't know anything about the soils in your area or your climate zone. But, I do know that it is best to select plants for your zone and soil type. If you have to alter the soil so much to get the plants to live, it was probably not the most adaptable plants. If your soil is rocky, it is well drained, but will need more water. As Applestar mentioned, when you add artificial soil that is very different from the native soil, you do get the bowl effect and the roots of the plants will behave as though they are still in a pot.

If you can find someone in your area growing the trees, it would be good if you can ask them, what variety they have and how they manage their trees.



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