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Old 06-01-2011, 06:51 AM posted to rec.gardens
songbird[_2_] songbird[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jun 2010
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Default Arborvitae/Fence Question?? Also....

MICHELLE H. wrote:
We are probably going to plant either the "Emerald Green" or "Dark
Green" variety of arborvitaes. The "Emeralds" say to plant 3-4 feet
apart, and the "Dark Greens" say to plant 5-6 feet apart. So is this how
far back they should be planted back from the fence??



where are you located? do you have
deer around and deep enough snowfall in
the winter to make those trees edible
to deer? they'll likely become a target
and it's a lot of trouble to keep
deer away once they know a food source
and they are hungry.

the first several years we had them
they didn't get touched and then we
had one hard winter. from then on
it's been a royal PITA.

they are beautiful trees and have
grown from 1-2ft across x 3-4ft high
trees into 10-12ft across x 12ft high
in about 12 years. some of them look
quite funny because of the trim the
deer made on the bottom. those we've
fenced are recovering slowly. several
we haven't fenced have been eaten so
many times they are a bare stem with
a wisp of green on top. we leave them
because Ma likes to grow morning glories
up them (which the deer also like in
the middle of winter).

i have no idea if the growth rate
we've seen would be the same for you
because the growing conditions could
be quite different.

good luck!


songbird