In life we want the best, right? The same is true in our gardens. Why fill your garden with second-rate plants, that will grow slowly, be weak and unhealthy, and never have the impact and beauty you dream of? Shade trees, flowering shrubs or evergreens – we should always choose the best types and varieties for the purpose we have in mind, and of course for our location. When it comes to larger specimen, screening or hedging evergreens, one variety stands out above the other offerings, for most of the country – Thuja Green Giant.
Reasons to Choose Thuja Green Giant
Grows Well in Most Soils
Thuja Green Giant grows well in a wide range of soils too. This plant handles acidic or alkaline soils well, and most soil types too, from sandy soils to clays. It does need moderate drainage, and won’t thrive in soil that is constantly wet, but apart from that it really doesn’t mind. Whatever your soil type, it is recommended to add plenty of rich organic material when you plant. This will retain water in sandy soils, and improve drainage in clay ones, as well as providing lots of valuable nutrients. An annual or bi-annual top-dressing over the roots of similar materials will keep your plants thriving over the long haul too.
Grows Well in Most Locations
Some plants need full sun all day long, while others burn quickly when exposed to the hot afternoon sun of summer. Most evergreens like sunshine, and Thuja Green Giant does too. But compared to any similar plant, it is more tolerant of variations in light levels. Of course it will perform best in full sun, growing dense and fast. In real life, however, almost every garden has some shade, at least for part of the day, so along the length of a hedge there will usually be areas that receive more sun, or less sun, through the day. Shade levels also vary with the seasons, with more shade in summer and fall on bigger areas of your garden. Because of its vigor, Thuja Green Giant will perform remarkable uniformly in those conditions, so that you won’t have a screen or hedge that is thick in some areas, and thin and weak in others. In deep continuous shade there are plants that will do better – like Yew or Laurel, for example. But in lighter shade you will still get great growth, and a good density of foliage too.
Grows Fast
For screens and hedges, we mostly want them yesterday. The quicker than become big enough to do their job, the better. Thuja Green Giant has proven the fastest-growing evergreen in controlled research, and you can be almost certain that in the early years you will see your plants add 3 feet in height every year. They won’t take long to reach your target height, and they will thicken quickly too, giving you the density you need for solid screening – even without clipping. As large specimens too, they grow upright and dense completely naturally, and just look great. That doesn’t mean you can’t clip them – you can of course – and they respond well too, turning into a solid wall, or a tight formal specimen you will really love.
Pest and Deer Resistant Too
Nobody wants to be out spraying their plants, especially in this time of concern over chemical exposure. You certainly won’t need to be spraying if you choose Thuja Green Giant for your garden, because it is right up there for resistance to diseases and pests. With its natural toughness it will soon recover from anything that does come along, so you can plant with confidence, knowing that this is one plant that can take care of itself.
Many people have horror stories to tell about their battles with deer, which can ravage a garden overnight. Deer are hard to predict, and if hungry enough, just like people they will eat just about anything. So no, we won’t say that no deer, anywhere, anytime, has ever taken a bite from a plant of Thuja Green Giant, but we will say that it rarely happens, they rarely take much, and the plants almost always recover rapidly. Compared to most other evergreens, and certainly others with soft-foliage like Thuja Green Giant, this plant is certainly deer resistant.
Always Looks Good
Some evergreens look lush and green in spring and early summer, but then they can yellow in the hottest months, or turn brown in winter, especially when grown in cold areas. Thuja Green Giant is not like that. It stays green all year round, and indeed, it often looks at its best in winter, when the softer light brings out the green in most plants. Other kinds of Thuja plants are very prone to turn bronzy and brown in winter, not recovering until the new growth appears in spring. We really don’t want our plants to do that, since that green in winter is so much more cheerful, and Thuja Green Giant won’t. It is always green.
So you probably get the idea by now. If you are looking for large evergreens, to create a screen or hedge, or to plant as low-maintenance specimens around the garden, then it is truly hard to find a single reason why Thuja Green Giant is not your best pick, while there are many reasons why it is. So make your life simple, and choose the best.