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Green Giant Arborvitae for Landscapes of Sellersville Pa.
By | July 2, 2008
Why We Like the Green Giant Arborvitae So Much For Landscapes of Sellersville Pa.
Our farm, Highland Hill Farm, is located in solid clay. We therefore like plants that grow well in dense, heavy, rather impermeable, NOT well-drained soils. One of the arborvitae, the Green Giant, the Western Red cedar Tree, or botanically, the Thuja Plicata, is our favorite. Here is why: The hardiness zone the Green Giant Arbor vita tolerates is from zone 5 to zone 8. That’s where extreme cold temperatures get down to a temperate level of about 15 or 20 degrees in the winter (Zone 8), but also as low as a frigid level of 15 or 20 degrees BELOW zero (zone 5). Green giants are evergreens, being cedars. Their rapid growth rates can in ideal conditions reach 3 feet per year. Site requirements for the Green Giant Arbor vita are sun to partial shade, moist well drained soil preferred (but still does well in clay), and protection from wind, at lest when young. The Green Giant is a beautiful tree. It has an aesthetically fine form. It’s conical, being narrow to broadly pyramidal, reaching from 50 feet to 80 feet in height in southeastern Pennsylvania. The width at the base of the cone is usually about 15 feet to 20 feet. The leaves are rich green making graceful foliage. Green Giants make a superb privacy screen. They keep their foliage color year ’round, great for brightening bleak gray winter days with snow on the ground. The cinnamon bright red bark when young turn rich russet brown with time crating a strong contrast with the needle leaves. Green Giants’ flowers, their fruit are pretty little light brown half-inch female cones. (Just so you know, Green giants are females, so its okay to call the cones pretty.) The Green Giant is also a wonderful shade tree, casting a dark, dense shade. The wood is strong too, once the tree is beyond its youth.
This is an arbor vita that should outlive even your grandchildren. There are Green Giants out west documented to be over 300 years old. Just don’t plant these too close to the ocean, or roads in areas where there’s a lot of salt used for snow removal. If you get over 100 inches of snowfall and more per year, no roadside Arbor vita planting where salt is used, PLEASE. The greatest soldier of ancient Greece in the Trojan war had his one little weak spot, what proved to be a fatal flaw, and the “Achilles Heel” for Green Giant Arborvitae is hypersensitivity to salt.
About the Author
Bill raises Green Giant Arborvitae on his 250 acre farm in Fountainville Pa. This farm is in the heart of Bucks County near Doylestown. He usually has samples on display at his nursery that you are welcome to visit. His web site is http://www.seedlingsrus.com -
The Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus)- Plants for landscapes in Pa
Actually a colorful fall foliage selection as the name implies, a deciduous shrub specie from the Tree Family Celastraceae, the “Staff-Tree Family,” it is NOT the description of A PROTEST action against our President.
‘hope the title didn’t mislead you, ’cause if it did, you’ll STILL learn about a marvelous shrub. Burning Bush, a non-native species brought from China and Korea since the 1860’s, has escaped from ornamental plantings into urban and rural areas. It travels widely by way of its seed. This hardy plant is found in forests and brushy areas. Burning Bushes will grow well even in SHADE, with very little sun.
It is happily, not a murderous invasive species, killing absolutely every other plant around it like Crown Vetch, but this “invasive” WILL cause anything below it to starve for almost any light. It’s more than just a “traveling plant.”
Burning Bush is also known as the Winged Euonymous, Winged Wahoo, Winged Spindle Tree, all for the cork-like tabs along its branches and stems, as well as being called the Japanese Spincle Tree, and of course, the Cork Bush. That’s a lot of names.
This vase-shaped shrub has great red fall foliage which glows for weeks in early to mid-autumn, hence, its name, Burning Bush. Hedges can be sheared or globes created for decorative landscape plantings, topiaries (sculpted bush art), Burning Bushes are good for all.
Hedges from Burning Bushes can be very dense giving good screening of wind, any sun, and create privacy, even during the winter. If left unpruned, the compact form of Burning Bush will grow to about 12 feet tall and 15 feet wide. The winged form will grow to about 15 feet tall and 20 feet wide. In our area, the Burning Bush propagates naturally in shaded areas. We obtain some of our stock from seedlings we gather at a small farm cemetery on our property. Burning Bush even regrows after transplanting from the empty holes where roots are exposed!
Burning Bush is adaptable to a variety of soil conditions: Fertile to sterile, organic to clay, acidic to alkaline, rocky to sandy, this plant proves its strength. It does NOT like any wet soils, it is important to note, but it does do well in very dry soils. Burning Bush has small fibrous roots near the surface and responds well to root pruning. Balling and burlapping this shrub for transplanting does little damage, for Burning Bushes can take abuse and recover quickly.
IF YOU HAVE A “BROWN THUMB,” THIS IS A PLANT FOR YOU.
You can see more of Bill’s planting tips and articles at http://www.seedlingsrus.com or http://www.zone5trees.com and his first website, www.highlandhillfarm.com
About the Author
For the past 26 years, Bill has been raising and marketing trees and plants on his 250 acres of farms near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 25 miles north of Philadelphia.
His websites are: http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.zone5trees.com
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