# Show me your Green Giants!



## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

I've just bought 100 Thuja Green Giant saplings for $360 that I plan to put in nursery pots and grow for a couple of years while I slowly take out the overgrown mix of trees along my new back yard. I'm looking for a privacy screen and plan to plant them 5ft apart. I've googled lots of pictures but very few to none show what it looks like as a privacy screen in the backyard and how the trees mesh together. Most of the pictures show them as separate trees.

I know the green giant hedge has been discussed on here since that's where I first heard about it. If you have green giants as a screen or hedge, could you post a picture? Below is what my yard looks like. We have a berm that surrounds about half the yard and we are looking to plant them on the back slope of the berm and around the fence in the rest of the yard.


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## Wolverine (Jan 17, 2018)

Here ya go


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

Thanks @Wolverine How long have they been in the ground and do you think they were planted close enough together?


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## Wolverine (Jan 17, 2018)

Planted 4 years ago as 4 footers. Here are pics as of today, last pics were from 2019. 2 rows 5 feet apart, Arbs are 7 feet apart.


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

Planted last summer. Hoping they take off this year as the plan is for them to form a privacy fence over the next several years.


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

Thanks @Jimefam your other privacy hedge is beautiful. What do you have planted on that side?

How far apart are your green giants?


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

Bermuda_Newbie said:


> Thanks @Jimefam your other privacy hedge is beautiful. What do you have planted on that side?
> 
> How far apart are your green giants?


They are all green giants all the way around the backyard. Planted them 6 feet or so apart.


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

Jimefam said:


> Bermuda_Newbie said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks @Jimefam your other privacy hedge is beautiful. What do you have planted on that side?
> ...


I meant the flowering bush behind them in front of the trees.


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

Bermuda_Newbie said:


> Jimefam said:
> 
> 
> > Bermuda_Newbie said:
> ...


Oh no clue just wild growth behind those green giants i dont know anything about them other then i have to constantly hack away at them to keep them back of the Thujas.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

@Wolverine what's the name of those trees????


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

My green giants in those pictures are 6 to 6.5 ft apart. The larger ones near the house are 24-25 ft. tall and the smaller ones in the corner are 12-18 ft. tall. Let me know if you have any questions.





Here's what the ones at the back looked like 3 years ago when I planed them at ~6ft tall:


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## Wolverine (Jan 17, 2018)

CenlaLowell said:


> @Wolverine what's the name of those trees????


The trees that are grouped are Green Giant Arborvitae


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

Thanks @Awar I think it's going to take my 6-inch saplings forever to get that big. Do you know why the ones by your patio got bigger faster or are those different?


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Bermuda_Newbie said:


> Thanks @Awar I think it's going to take my 6-inch saplings forever to get that big. Do you know why the ones by your patio got bigger faster or are those different?


You'll be surprised how fast those trees grow. Once they're properly established expect 3-5 ft. growth per year.

I installed the smallest of my trees last, and that was a 7 gal. 4 ft. tall. The other 3 next to it were installed as 15 gal. 6 ft. tall. The larger ones by the patio were installed as 45 gal. 10 ft. tall trees (paid $$$ for those to get quick privacy from the neighbor's house) and that was 9 months before the 3 in the corner, hence they are at least 2 years ahead today.

I stopped fertilizing the large ones 2 years ago as they're too close to the house, but I've been very happy using Jobe's Fertilizer Spikes for Evergreen Trees. Once yours take off you should consider trying those out.


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

Awar said:


> Bermuda_Newbie said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks @Awar I think it's going to take my 6-inch saplings forever to get that big. Do you know why the ones by your patio got bigger faster or are those different?
> ...


Thanks for the info. I have 3 yards of potting soil coming and the saplings are being delivered on Friday. For $3.60 a piece, I'm hoping most of them survive and it saves me $$$ because I saw the price of good sized ones. It also lets the stumps rot that are currently in their spot for a few years while they grow.


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Green giants need A LOT of water in their first year, and a regular lot of water in their second year.

Here's mine planted in NJ in late April of 2018. The first 2 pictures are when they are planted and the last 2 from earlier this week. They just started waking up 3 weeks ago.


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

@Jconnelly6b That was a huge jump in two years! They are growing together nicely. Did you plant them 5 or 6 ft apart?

Edit: Thanks for the tip about the water. I'm in zone 9b which is probably stretching it for these plants but I think I can keep them watered and they'll get full sun so we'll see. Worst case, I'm out $360 + soil. Better than planting them full sized and having them die.


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## Alex1389 (May 23, 2018)

First pic is April '18 when they were planted like @Jconnelly6b. Second pic is April '19. Third pic is a few weeks ago. They really took off in year two.


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

@Bermuda_Newbie i believe I planted them about 4.5' apart. I was in a rush to get them to fill in I'm right on a major highway at the entrance to our block so wanted a screen fast. Looking at them now I wish I would have had the patience to do them a littler farther, probably 6'.

For the watering I installed a soaker hose and ran it every other day for the first 2 weeks, then twice a week for the entire summer. Last year I think I did a good soaking water every 2 weeks if we didn't have significant rain. They also get some overspread from lawn fertilization, fish fertilizer a couple times a year, and I put mychorrizae on the roots of each one I planted. No way you're doing all that for 100 of them though!


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

@Jconnelly6b We are setting up a watering rig for them with some pipe hooked up to our automatic sprinklers. Since we are redoing all the sprinklers, it will get its own station that will eventually turn into whatever landscaping is in that part of the yard. It's going to be just a 10x10 grid of pipe. My husband has it all figured out how he's going to set it up so I'm leaving all that to him. It's over 100 degrees for most of the summer and we can only water 3 times a week here so the watering has to be right or we will lose the trees. No rain in summer here. I might do the fertilizer spikes for evergreen trees that @Awar suggested but I haven't priced those so 100 might be a bit much. It was $80 in pots to just pot the suckers. Not to mention the truck load of potting soil. Still cheaper than full size. We'll have to mess with where to place them so they don't get burned but from what I read, it can be a full sun plant and we've got plenty of sun in Fresno.

Why do you wish they were further apart? Won't it just create a screen sooner and closer to the ground?


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## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

Buy irrigation hose and install Rainbird .5 gph drip emitters at the base of each tree. It's super easy to setup, efficient, inexpensive, and your trees will thrive. Do not use any fertilizer the first year. If you must, you can use 10-10-10 all purpose slow release when they wake up in the spring for a few years after the first year. Do not plant the rootball below the surface of the soil, make sure the top is above the surface, and space them as far apart as you can. They will grow some and set roots in year one, then really take off in year 2. They will thrive in full sun with that .5 gph drip emitter system. Overwatering green giants can definitely kill them.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

@Bermuda_Newbie the ferrilizer spikes are great but you probably cannot use them the first couple of years. They need to be placed at the tree drip line but not closer than 24 or so inches to the trunk. So basically your trees should be almost 4 ft wide. What I did with my small emerald greens was to break the spikes into smaller pieces to place them 12 inches away from the trunk and they did fine.


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Yes you are right the screen is quite good already, but I imagine they will be crowding each other in a year. The only thing I worry about then is disease resistance as less airflow can lead to fungus. If your climate is arid you may not have an issue.

I would avoid the fertilizer spikes in the first year, most recommend not to fertilize trees in their first year. If you want to add something I would recommended a liquid fish emulsion or something like that, just to give nutrients and organic matter but not push growth. If you push too hard they become even more hungry for water, and the new growth can be susceptible to disease and insects if the plant can't support it properly.


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

Waiting on the 3 yards of soil and the 100 3 gallon pots to arrive. This works in the meantime.


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## Grass Clippins (Apr 30, 2018)

@Bermuda_Newbie What a coincidence...I just order 90 Lil' Green Giants from Sandy's Nursery. I'm planning on putting mine in 1 gallon pots and getting them in the ground after a year, hopefully that's not too soon. We're going for the giant hedge look so we'll plant them in two rows, 4 feet apart, with the trees staggered 8-12 feet apart within each row. Here's a good grow guide.


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## Grass Clippins (Apr 30, 2018)

@Bermuda_Newbie Forgot to ask. What type of potting soil are you using? I was going to use soil conditioner. It works well for my propagations but is going to require a lot of water because it drains so well.


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

It's a well draining loamy potting soil. It has pearlite in it so I think it's the same as what's in the bags at the big box stores but I got it delivered from the nursery.


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