Almost everyone knows what a green Giant arborvitae is these days, it has been happily replacing the once popular “leyland cypress”.
the leyland is now considered not such a good tree, they are very short lived, grow fast and weak and they get much bigger than most people thought. These tend to die pretty easily.
The green Giant on the other hand is said to be able to live a few hundred years when looking at its parents lifespans. It is also known to be almost free of many pests and diseases. It also grows fast, and is somewhat stronger. So far, green giants seem to be pretty problem free. Some even claim deer refuse to eat them, I would agree unless the deer is very hungry then they might consider it. Spider mites seem to be the most common problem with green giants, just like other trees such as spruce, other arborvitae, cedars and so on.
Here is some (more on the mature side) Green Giant Arborvitaes. This is a picture I took of some at a dentist office in Columbia Missouri on Keene Street. 2021. These are possibly around 30 to 40ft tall in this picture, so imagine this with another 20 to 30ft taller possibly being grown! Big huh?
For a long time many nursery’s unknowingly was selling green giants as a tree that grows only 20 to 30ft tall. When in fact the green giants can easily reach up to 60ft and 12ft wide at the base. Much bigger than the areas many have planted them in unfortunately! Also another popular arborvitae is the Emerald Green Arborvitae. It grows on average 15 to 20ft tall and many have also confused this with the green Giant when in fact they are both arborvitae sure, but very different in size. Emerald greens work best for smaller/narrow areas as they mature to be around 3ft wide and up to 20ft or so tall. They work best in smaller areas, even a hedge!
The green Giant gets huge compared to what many think or were told it grows to, so hopefully you aren’t someone that had already made the mistake of planting a green Giant in a small area. They do work great as huge privacy screens and wind blocks.
So now that you know how tall really a green Giant can grow, you can make a better decision on where you should plant yours. If you don’t have any yet, make sure to check out our plants we ship right here from our website! We love arborvitaes and have many good reasons to back them up! To much of one tree in one area isn’t a good thing though. If you have 10 neighbors on your block and 9 of the 10 have green giants, you probably all shouldn’t plant any, or if you do make sure to mix them in with other species for a more natural look. Sicknesses come for every tree at some point even if we don’t know what it is now. If one of your neighbors trees get it, your whole neighborhood will have a problem. This is a good practice with ANY trees and plants. Don’t plant to much of one thing in one area of your location!