In article . com,
"Newsgroups" wrote:

I live in New York and I just bought 8 Emerald Green Arborvitaes to
plant on the South side of my house. I was wondering if someone can
tell me and let me know the best way to plant them. It indicates that
they grow to 15 ft and 3 feet wide but doesn't give much more
information. Is there a special type of soil that would be best???????
I live near the beach and was wondering if there is anything special I
should do. Any help on planting these would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Newbie at planting.

Arborvitae can be salt intolerant so if "by the beech" you mean you're
planting them in the way of salt air spray, you may have trouble with
them. But if it's a freshwater beech, or if others in your neighborhood
have grown arborvitae successfully, probably it'll be okay.

Sizes given on nursery tags are generally the ten-year size, not
necessarily the maximum size, though 'Smaragd' aka 'Emerald Green' is one
of the smaller upright arborvitaes.

Except for not liking salty soils near oceans or bays, they are not fussy
about their soil. To get them started you should dig them holes much
larger than the rootballs (at least three times wider than each rootball,
more if your digging energy holds out) & mix into all that soil a third
again as much organic compost, & don't tamp the soil too tight when done.
They should be planted slightly higher than the undug surrounding soil,
which the addition of the compost will effect.

They want full sun, excellent drainage, & for the first couple years they
should not experience any droughtiness whatsoever, so you'll need to get
some water out to them -- when well-rooted & established they can survive
being ignored though 'Smaragd/Emerald Green' is never terribly drought
tolerant.

If you don't see any healthy old arborvitae in your immediate area, that
could well mean salt does them in. If so, it might not be too late to
return them to the nursery & use the credit to get salt-tolerant trees;
it'll save some disappointment. There are upright Chinese juniper
cultivars that would fit most of the criteria that must've led you to an
arborvitae, but with salt tolerance into the bargain. But the most
salt-tolerant trees tend not to be evergreens.

-paghat the ratgirl
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