They're dying rapidly all along the east coast as far inland as West Virginia from the wooly adelgid.

From that list, either the straight species or emerald fountain which might work depending how tall you need it. EF would be expensive up front, but less trimming later to keep it in bounds.

Any reason for not considering the more columnar forms of arborvitae or juniper?

As lacyvail stated, Canada hemlocks are in trouble. Unless you're prepared for costly annual treatments, you may want to look at some of the Asian varieties. I tend to prefer native species, but when it comes to natives that are in deep trouble, well, they may not be your best bet for this kind of investment.

i cant believe those prices .... if you cant do better than those.. you arent trying very hard ...

link to ACS database .. find annual growth rates ... and predict how fast you can grow from small size ....

'new gold' is awesome in spring .. all are fully z5 .... no bug problems for me.. YET ... lol ... 6 to 12 inches per year ... which means to me.. a one footer can be about 6 feet tall in 5 to 7 years.. ergo.. not worth the extra $100 for a specimen .... but it is your budget ... and project.. whichever is important you you ....

seriously... $65 for an 18 inch named plant .... pigs will fly before that would ever show up in my garden ... for a hemlock no less ....

good luck

ken

PS: you have a defined area [but you didnt say how big].. but i sure wouldnt sign up for annual.. or bi-annual pruning of a plant that can grow upwards of a foot a year ... the size of your small space might be a bigger issue than hemlocks ...

pps: you said:I will have to trim it to keep it to size, not a problem as far as I can see

======= trust me.. i said that many times.. and now 10 years later.. WHAT WAS I THINKING .... i just dont have the energy .. you might want to think about all the work ...

Here is a link that might be useful: acs

Ken, that is the market in SE WI.

I see those prices are pulled from Minors Nursery...they are actually one of the better priced nurseries in the area. Thats not to say they might be priced high on those particular culivars.

As Ginkgonut mentioned, why not go with an Upright Juniper?

Here is a link that might be useful: Minors Price List

that wasnt my point ... value is in the eyes of the beholder.. or his checkbook ...

if you start smaller.. it takes longer until pruning.. most stuff transplants better smaller ...

and the job can be done for a fraction of the cost .... like pennies on the dollars quoted ....

unless size is important ... lol

why doesnt the OP think about de groots spire.. for tall.. thin.. never need pruning plants ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: two feet wide by 10 high is single leadered

Yeah, I agree prices are steep. However, the reason I'd be willing to pay the price (and not wait for growth) is the NEIGHBOR FROM HELL. Lol.

Junipers aren't going to be wide enough, I'm looking for something that will "fan" out somewhat to fill in the gaps. For that reason, upright Junipers won't work, nor will Arborvitae.

How do the asian varieties differ? Are they on the list I gave above of available cultivars?

I KNOW they are supposed to be in trouble. I have them although I did not plant them. And although I have seen an occasional woolly adelphid on them, they look essentially very healthy. I did treat maybe once last season for the few adelphids I saw. I did some radical pruning of lower and overlapping branches (thereby increasing air circulation though the 'grove'). Who knows what the future will bring?! Right now they look great and provide shelter to less sun tolerant shrubs. PS., My hemlocks are in full summer sun in a wet zone 7 and do not seem to suffer from it. Good luck!

My soil is also clay.

kimcoco what are the dimensions you're looking for and how close is "close to the house"?

As for the prices, Ken is right. I bought a "Moon Frost" from Minor's in a 4" pot three years ago for under $10 and it's now about 18" (they want $64 for an 18 incher). They still sell the small pots each Spring.

tj

I am spraying (heavy drenching) my hemlocks with horticultural oil.....after over a year the woolly adelgid keeps on going and is still there - going strong with lots of white stuff all over the place.
What to do as apparently the trees wont last 3 years with this cr@p on them.

The space I have is a typical walkway width from the house. The planting space is triangular, maybe 4 feet across. One one side is the concrete walkway, on the other side is the driveway, on the third side is a lannonstone paver walkway - which can be moved as we didn't set these in a deep base when it was installed, so from that standpoint we have a little room to play with.

Any other suggestions for something evergreen that's not necessarily narrow in growth? The walkway along the house is where our spout is for our garden hose, other than that we don't use it as a walkway per se, so something that will extend to fill this gap up to or close to our house would be ideal.

I read that you can maintain the same size/shape of the Hemlocks with annual pruning, which is why I thought it would work. Also, I read that treating with Bayer systemic annually is ideal for reatment/prevention of the pests....?????

Will Thuja Green Giant work in this small space, or is that wishful thinking?

Green Giant might get too big if a 4 foot diameter is what you're after. There are other Thuja's that may work- perhaps a triad of 'DeGroot's Spire' in your triange? Hemlocks are among the safest to prune but it's best to start pruning when they're small. Many think they can buy big and prune to the shape they want. That is a mistake. And don't let them get away from you or you'll be like {{gwi:468803}}. The HWA has been around the US for eighty some years and hasn't made it's way to the Midwest yet so I wouldn't treat for it until it got here. If you do go with a hemlock, the straight species would get you where you want to be the fastest. Have you checked prices at Action Garden Center, Prospect Hill or Nature's Nook in New Berlin? Or even Stein's, for that matter? Come to think of it, a big box store should carry a species hemlock (at the right planting time).

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: HWA Spread 2008

As for the wooly adelgid--Wisconsin is a long way from any area that is now infected. Unless someone carries some of these bugs to your area, it should be many, many years before it gets up and out there. By that time there may be some natural control established. If not there are measures to protect individual trees. Go ahead and plant them. Really, really wonderful trees!!

--Spruce

TJ - that picture is too funny. I WISH I had a hedge that big. LOL.

Seriously, what size should I plan on getting in order to maintain it? Ideally, maybe an eight foot height is what I'm shooting for. In other words, a 6 foot planting is ideal, then maintain it to an eight foot height, or I suppose I'm looking at the width as well?

Thanks for the info on the Garden Centers. I'll have to price match in spring. Comparing the 2009 price list for action garden center, they seem comparable to Minors.

While they are in trouble around here, old hemlock hedges are very common. We used to have one.

In order to keep it the same size, count on pruning at least twice a year. Three times is probably optimal. Once it gets away from you, you can't hard prune it to get it back. So to maintain an 8 ft hedge, you are spending a lot of time on a ladder. That is going to be true of anything that requires pruning, but other plants may only have to have that chore done annually.

"Seriously, what size should I plan on getting in order to maintain it? "

If it were me, probably 2 or 3 feet, but I know you have a need to fill fast. To get the fullest plant at 8 feet, I'd say a 3 or 4 footer at most. But I wouldn't give up on a Thuja yet. I know. A Tsuga junkie saying that, but a Thuja might be less trimming work later.

tj

I actually thought those prices are pretty good if they're retail prices. Hemlocks are slow growers.