Eight arborvitae in the sideyard were planted in fall of 2002, and are pictured here in summer of 2003. May 2005: Two years later, there's not much difference in height. The slow rate of growth could be a result of constant stress from overloaded and salted snow from the neighbor's driveway, shown here in January 2005. (It is no fault of theirs; this is the only logical place to put the snow.)

June 2004 The shorter trees were 1 foot tall when planted in 1998. In 2004, they were about 5 feet tall. The taller trees were 5 feet tall when planted. In 2004, they were 7 feet tall. May 2006 The rate of growth for the smaller trees is much faster than that of the taller ones. Smaller trees were each one foot tall when planted from 1-gallon containers. Taller trees averaged 4.5 feet tall at planting time, and were all planted from burlap balls. But the real problem is that I bought arborvitae that have multiple trunks, instead of searching for ones with one single leader. Look how my trees have lost their shape over the years! Yuck! (If I lived in an area with little or no snow, this might not be a concern, but here in New Jersey, it is clear to me now that multiple leader arborvitae are to be avoided.)

Planted in 1999, above: This tree was five feet tall when planted in a full-sun location in 1999. June 2004, right: Four years later, it had grown to seven feet tall. In fall of 1997, I planted a one-foot arborvitae in full sun. Seven years later, that one measured six feet tall. Another one-footer planted in 1997 in a partial shade location measured 4.5 feet tall after seven years.

See Julie's Arborvitae Journal For Julie's detailed comments, see the Arborvitae detailed facts page Read the latest Tree Grower's Diary blog entry