They produce heavier crops in some years and lighter crops in others, but there's usually at least a few cones on them.

Resin

Thanks Resin. I went shopping today and all the Thujas were too big (expensive-wise and manipulating-wise). And in the nursery, most did not have the cones. maybe stress related.

Anyhow, I saw these adorable Chamaecyparis 'Soft Serve' upright forms. Love em! They were in 2 gallon pots and I can fit a bunch in my SUV and just pop 'em in the ground a shake. The logistics of 5 big b&b thujas was troubling.

coning.. just like nut production .. varies wildly.. over the years ...

there will be many years when you seem to notice little or none ...

and then bammo ... a bazillion of them ...

IMHO ... its usually related to the year previous weather ... e.g. if there was severe drought the year prior .... in an attempt to continue the species .. the following year.. it will cone madly ....

the microscopic cones .. were there when they budded out in spring.. so the rain in late spring and summer.. could not be the reason for them ...

or i am wrong for over-generalizing in regard to arbs .. lol ... and will be corrected ..

ken

The very common Arbovitae sold as "Emerald Green" or "Smargard" does not have the same "problem" with lots of cones.

Ken, right on. Last year was heat and drought central here. This year decent rainfall and average temps.

Noki, yes, I've noticed the arb forms I don't care for (em green) do not have the cones.

My green giants are about 25ft tall and 4/5 ft wide 7 yrs old about 20 of them. I noticed 3 of them way at the tops are browning and look as though there are alot of those little pine cones on them or could they be bag bugs? I CALLED TO HAVE THEM LOOKED AT BUT THEY CANT COME FOR 2 WEEKS :( I'm very concerned. Will they die?

My husband planted them 7 yrs ago and he died 5 yrs ago .. they were his babies. PLEASE ADVISE /HELP 👍❤😬

Bagworms for sure -- mine have also been attacked at the tops. I was considering getting a pressure-sprayer to spray them w/something, but the affected parts are 30 ft up. They should wind down eventually as predators and diseases affect them. A 2-week wait for help isn't going to make any difference.....

Cones on Thuja produce seeds eaten by robins, common redpolls, pine siskins, and dark-eyed juncos in winter when other seed sources are scarce. Deer eat the branchlets as high as they can reach (creating topiaries!). Thuja provides up to 40% of white-tailed deers’ diet (if they don’t live in the suburbs). Thuja provides highly nutritious food for snowshoe hares, porcupines, red squirrels, and beavers. Many native birds find nesting sites in Thuja and insects to feed their young. The leaves are very high in Vitamin C. I planted Thuja occidentalis in my NJ standard suburban lot (50’x100’) fifty years ago. My soil is poor and acidic, basically crumbled shale and organic matter from trees and grasses growing here before we came. Native plants thrive, while others would need help to grow. Two of my trees are 40’ high. The five others are 20’. The only plants we have are native to this area. We don’t use pesticides or fertilizers. The small garden provides a succession of blooms from early spring to winter. Our native bumblebees swarm all over the plants because they can reach the nectar. Our native birds have nesting places and food year round. Many eat Thuja seeds from now through winter. Trees are not simply for humans to look at. They are living embodiments of the health of the environment.