# Green Giant Arborvitae spacing question



## Orion Nebula

Hello everyone!

I am currently planting a half dozen or more giant green thuja's. The main reason like many is for a privacy screen. However I do not have the room to stagger them. My question is how close together can you plant them without risking damage? Right now I have planted four 8 feet apart. But I am realizing that they most likely will never fill in at the point above my fencing. Which means if I add more they would obviously be only four foot apart.

Secondly I already planted the four in my heavy clay soil. Do you guys think replanting them would destroy them? I was thinking at the very lease I could dig them up and move them closer together.

Thanks for the help!


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## Awar

@Orion Nebula I planted several green giants and I can take measurements to let you know the exact distance between by trees. Here are a couple of pics I posted in an earlier thread, do you want similar spacing to my four trees in the second photo?


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## Orion Nebula

Thanks for replying!

I would love to know the distancing if you have time. That will give me a great idea on where I am at.

Thank you very much!


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## Babaganoosh

I went 5 feet. I. Remember doing a lot of research and that was the number I kept coming up with. Mine were 5 feet tall when I planted them and after a year they almost were touching at the bottom. Year 2 they are touching at the bottom and starting to mesh together lightly. As you go up the tree in height they are further apart but it's due to the shape of the tree


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## Awar

Alright so I took some measurements and the four trees I have at the back are spaced at 6ft to 6.5ft.

The bigger ones at the front are spaced 8 ft apart. Here's what they look like. The touch up to 4 or 5 ft high.



How big are your trees? If you want them trees to fill above your 6 ft fence, I'd recommend 6 ft spacing. You'll have to wait a very long time at 8 ft.


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## Orion Nebula

I really appreciate taking the time to do that for me!

My trees are only about seven foot. Its raining like crazy here today so the clay soil will be squishy and maybe I can dig them up with the root ball somewhat covered in clay. And dig a new hole three feet away. My wife keeps insisting they will be fine but you pretty much confirmed my worries. I do not want to wait 15 years to get even a small bit of privacy. Do you have any kind of guesstimate on the time needed for privacy to start between 8 vs 6 spacing. I need something to point out. =)


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## Babaganoosh

8 foot would probably take 5 years to get privacy. I'll take a picture of my 5 foot spaced trees when I get home from work. I've been cutting back the leader twice a year to encourage the bottoms to be bushier. It seems to be working.


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## Awar

@Orion Nebula glad to help. Yes you would want 5 to 6 ft spacing for some privacy within 3-4 years.

The smaller tree you see in my photo above was planed at 4 ft tall in a different location, then when it became 6 ft tall I moved it to its current location. Transplanting should be fine if you start digging close to the drip line and then try to angle your way inside while still grabbing as much roots as possible. I would not do it when the ground is too wet.

To boost growth try using Jobes Evergreen fertilizer spikes. They work really well! You can find them on Amazon or Home Depot:


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## Babaganoosh

You don't want to fertilize the first year of planting. You want the roots to spread and establish, not top growth.


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## Awar

@Babaganoosh I fertilized my trees a few months after planting them. I would not recommend fertilizing the transplanted tree(s) right away but if the others have been planted long enough then fertilizer spikes should be okay.


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## Orion Nebula

Thank you both for the help!

I was standing out there last night looking at them and still trying to decide on if I should replant. I have a feeling if I don't just suck it up and do it I will regret it later. My biggest worry was the ground being sticky and wet. I planted them in pure clay, but I came across a few articles that said they can do well enough in clay soil. I also read via some studies that you are not supposed to amend the soil, so I didn't.

With that being said though I have two options now. Dig them up and shift them over or plant ones at a smaller 4 foot spacing. I am wondering if losing one more foot would decimate them in the end or if I could prune them down the road a bit. Thoughts? I guess this is based on 1/2 laziness and 1/2 worried about the wet clump I need to pull out.

Thanks again!


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## Awar

In my opinion 4 ft between green giants is too tight but it's doable. I remember reading somewhere that the closer they are, the higher the likelihood of disease issues.

If you're considering keeping them 8 ft apart, and they're ~7ft tall today, you should expect to wait another 4-5 years to get some sort of privacy.

Don't worry about those trees growing in clay soil. That's what I have and they are doing really well. Just use fertilizer spikes when the time is right.


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## Orion Nebula

I had a feeling that they would end up too smashed together and it would cause issues. I keep wondering if I could set emeralds between and back a bit. But I have a feeling they would end up swallowed... LOL

And ya they are seven foot high, it's about as large as I could find and still be affordable. I guess I will just leave them 8 foot apart. I really appreciate the help!


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## Awar

Orion Nebula said:


> I had a feeling that they would end up too smashed together and it would cause issues. I keep wondering if I could set emeralds between and back a bit. But I have a feeling they would end up swallowed... LOL
> 
> And ya they are seven foot high, it's about as large as I could find and still be affordable. I guess I will just leave them 8 foot apart. I really appreciate the help!


Emerald Greens being slow growers will not help much unless you spend more $ to buy 6ft+ trees which is not worth it for the long term it in my opinion.

If you're not comfortable relocating the green giants then just keep them 8ft apart and start fertilizing with Jobes Evergreen Spikes twice a year using 1 spike per 1 inch diameter trunk. If you recently planted your green giants start using the spikes in August so they'll get some growth before the winter, then hit them again with fertilizer in March and watch them fill in and grow 3 to 5ft per year :thumbup:

Here are a couple of photos of my 6ft green giants from when I planted them in March 2017 and what they looked like 2.5 years later in September 2019 (ignore the 4th smaller tree). Those are planted 6.5 ft apart and this spring they're already touching. Yours being an extra 1.5ft apart will probably take an additional year to look like that.

March 2017 (planted as 6ft tall):


September 2019 (2.5 years later):


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## Orion Nebula

Thank you for the pictures, it really helps. The first picture they are 6 foot tall? I guess it's perspective.


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## Awar

Orion Nebula said:


> Thank you for the pictures, it really helps. The first picture they are 6 foot tall? I guess it's perspective.


Yes I got them as 15 gal. / 6 ft tall (about an inch taller than me!). They look shorter because of the thick layer of pinestraw and because I measured to the top of the leader, and the leader alone is more than 2 ft above the rest of the tree. Here's a better pic during installation:


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## Babaganoosh

My back neighbor planted his Leylands too close and they have had a lot of thinning and dead branches down low the last few years.


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