Emerald Green Arborvitae

Emerald Green Arborvitae

The emerald green arborvitae (also referred to as an emerald green thuja) is a striking green tree that’s popular amongst landscapers for use as a privacy screen, though it works just as well as a standalone feature. Emerald green arborvitae trees grow to a medium height and have a slim-line appearance, making them ideal for privacy without overwhelming smaller gardens. Low maintenance and resistance to pests, these trees are a hardy addition to gardens in most climates. With an eye-catching shape and lush foliage, this is a particularly unique evergreen that has a most attractive silhouette in all seasons.

Why Choose Emerald Green Arborvitae?

Emerald green arborvitaes are a very popular choice when it comes to creating a privacy screen, but it’s not just their ability to block out the view of neighbors that makes them a firm favorite for many gardeners. They require very little specialist care and boast attractive green foliage all year, which makes them easy to care for despite their impressive appearance. For more information about why an emerald green arborvitae could be the perfect addition to your garden, take a look at the following:

Hardy and Adaptable

If you live in a cold climate, the emerald green arborvitae is better suited to withstand lower temperatures than many other evergreens. While cooler temperatures are usually optimal for this tree, they can also thrive in hotter climates as long as they receive appropriate water. Emerald green arborvitaes can be grown without problems across Zones 3 to 8, but aren’t recommended for gardens in the Deep South, Florida or across the West Coast.

Striking Color and Foliage

As their name suggests, emerald green arborvitaes have a particularly beautiful green color that’s likened to that of the precious gemstone. Their dense foliage gives them a lush, vibrant appearance in all seasons, amplifying their coloring that can look particularly striking even in winter when the rest of your garden may not be quite as bright.

Very Low Maintenance

In addition to being resistant to many diseases and pests, emerald green arborvitae trees have very few care requirements, making it easy to keep them looking their best. Not only are they resistant to cold, but they’re also drought tolerant and rarely need trimming unless you want to achieve a specific shape. Emerald greens also thrive in all kinds of soil and don’t require fertilizer unless your soil is particularly poor.

Moderate Growth Rate

Emerald green arborvitaes grow fairly quickly, averaging between 6 to 12 inches of growth per year. However, when the tree is still young, it could grow up to 2 feet in a single year, meaning that even when buying smaller specimens, it shouldn’t take long for them to reach their full height. While emerald green arborvitae trees don’t grow quite as speedily as some evergreens, this can benefit some gardeners who don’t wish to prune their hedges quite so often.

How to Plant an Emerald Green Thuja

If you want to plant emerald green arborvitae as a hedge, make sure each of your trees are positioned around 3 feet apart. However, if you’d like to create a denser privacy screen, you can plant a double row of trees with each of them being 6 feet apart in a staggered pattern. You can dig individual holes for each tree, but a trench is often simpler when planting a hedge. Make sure you leave enough room for each tree’s root ball to have ample space before packing most of the soil back in and making sure it’s firm.

It’s best to water your emerald greens thoroughly before replacing all of the soil you dug out for the trench. Once the water has completely drained, you can finish patting down the remaining soil.

Your emerald green arborvitae hedge should be planted in an area where it receives full sun, but it will also tolerate partial shade. Aim to make sure your trees receive sunlight for at least half of the day (6 to 8 hours), ideally in the afternoon, for optimal growth.

Caring for Your Thuja Hedge

Emerald green thujas are known for being low-maintenance, but if you’d like your hedge to thrive, it’s important to provide it with the right conditions to grow. Fortunately, most of this involves ensuring your trees are planted in the right location and maintaining a regular watering schedule. However, as emerald green arborvitae are hardy trees, they will be able to survive even if conditions are less than ideal for a period of time.

Watering

After watering your emerald green arborvitaes initially after planting, they’ll need to be watered once a week in their first season of growth. After this time, rainfall should be sufficient for most of the year, but be sure to water during dry spells to prevent your trees from drying out. While emerald green thujas are drought tolerant, they’ll be more likely to retain their vibrant green foliage and grow more quickly if they have a consistently good supply of water.

Be careful not to overwater your trees, particularly if your soil doesn’t drain very well. Well-drained soil is ideal for emerald green arborvitae trees, as they can develop root rot if excessively waterlogged.

If you’re ever in doubt about whether your trees need water, it can be best to let them dry out a little bit more rather than overload them with water, especially if your trees are well-established and no longer young. Young trees do need to be watered heavily and the soil should never dry out completely while they’re establishing themselves. However, try to keep the soil moist rather than very wet for long periods of time.

Fertilizing

The emerald green arborvitae typically grows in all kinds of soil, so fertilizer isn’t really necessary unless your soil is particularly poor. However, if you’d like to give your hedge the best start possible, you can use fertilizer in the first few years of growth. It’s usually best to fertilize in the spring months using a slow-release fertilizer. With this approach, your emerald green arborvitae should grow more densely and may grow more quickly as well.

Pruning

When it comes to pruning emerald green arborvitae, you don’t need to wait for a particular time of year, but the early fall is often preferred. At this time, your trees won’t be growing too quickly, making it a good time to remove dead branches and shape your tree’s foliage. Most landscapers only prune their emerald green arborvitae once a year, but you may choose to also trim your hedge in the summer if you prefer a very clean-cut silhouette.

In terms of shape, it can be a good idea to keep your emerald arborvitae hedge narrower at the top than the bottom, as this will allow the sun to reach the entire tree more easily. If the top of your hedge is too wide, lower branches may not get as much sun and may suffer poorer growth in the long term. For gardeners living in areas with a lot of snow in the winter, an arborvitae hedge with a rounded top is recommended. Square hedges collect snow more easily, while rounded shapes allow snow to fall away more easily.

FAQs

How far apart do I plant emerald green arborvitae? In general, it’s best to plant emerald green arborvitae around 3-4 feet apart. However, you may need to adjust this depending on how big your trees are when planting them as well as what effect you’re trying to create. For example, a decorative line of trees may require more space, whereas thicker hedges and privacy screens will require less.

When should I plant emerald green arborvitae? You should plant emerald green arborvitae in the early spring or the fall, as this will place minimal heat stress on your trees due to the cooler temperatures. However, despite emerald arborvitae being cold hardy, it’s best to avoid planting in the winter to minimize any negative effects of frost while the trees are establishing themselves.

How fast do emerald green arborvitae grow? Emerald green arborvitae grow relatively quickly and may gain between 6 and 12 inches in height each year. The trees grow even quicker while they’re young, shooting up 1-2 feet annually.

How tall do emerald green arborvitae get? Emerald green arborvitae can grow up to 10-15 feet tall, which is why they’re such a popular tree to use as privacy screens. You can prune your trees to keep them shorter, however, but it’s best to maintain a shorter height by pruning a little each summer rather than drastically cutting larger areas from tall trees. Try not to prune the height of your hedge by more than a third.

How often should I prune an emerald green arborvitae? You only need to prune emerald arborvitaes once a year, usually in the early fall. However, you may decide to prune your trees once in the summer as well if you want them to retain a specific, clean shape.
Is it hard to grow emerald green arborvitae? No, emerald green thujas are one of the easier evergreen hedges to grow and maintain. Not only do they not require much specialist care, but they’re very adaptable to different types of soil and can withstand a wide range of climates.