Hi, i planted bare root thuja plicata 4ft 13 months ago, they have grown some now 5 feet, my problem is they have not really bushed out at all and are quite bare, should i be taking the tips of these to encourage growth? I suppose last year was maybe slow growing because they were bare root?

I have no clue what you do in the UK but in the USA I would never plant evergreens bare root because with a gust of wind if they aren't staked you just wasted time and money. If they are bare then they are probably dead.

On Mar 12, 3:34*am, squirreluk
wrote:
Hi, i planted bare root thuja plicata 4ft 13 months ago, they have grown
some now 5 feet, my problem is they have not really bushed out at all
and are quite bare, should i be taking the tips of these to encourage
growth? I suppose last year was maybe slow growing because they were
bare root?

--
squirreluk

As a general guide, don't let your new growth exceed a foot but do not
remove more than half of the new growth you have already. Fall and
winter are best times, but you can prune anytime but with a bit of
caution. Evergreens do not like heavy pruning

Google : " pruning the western red cedar " will get you lots of info.