Close up image

emerald green .. aka smaragd ...

proper latin name: Thuja Occidentalis 'Smaragd'

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Ken,

Smaragd always looks curly/wavy to me, if that makes sense. Mine is flat and smooth. Is it the age or the way it was pruned?

'Smaragd' tends to produce many vertical sprays with a fan-like appearance, I think this may be another also. Part of the problem is that these are not in vigorous condition, making them less recognizable.

The next step is to look at similar plants of known identification to see which may be the same. If it were me nurseries and collections would be visited with representative samples of the mystery plants in hand.

Sice Emerald Green/'Smaragd' arbs are arguably the most widely sold and planted conifers in the US, it's a pretty safe guess :-) And I have never noticed their foliage being any more curly or wavy than that of any other arb......less so than many, in fact.

As to spacing or the need to fill in, I'd say it depends on the look you are trying to achieve. Do you want a solid wall of green? Or do you just want some vertcal elements against which to accent other, more mounding or spreading plants?

i have a half dozen of them... they look just like these ... since i bought them long before i knew anything about the downside of multi-leadered plants in snow load country ...

and i would bet my shiny nickle.. that the missing ones.. were splayed by a snow storm ... see link ...

i just dont know.. about your thoughts of buying more... hmmmmmm ..

i cant really debate your choice of words.. based on your observations ... thats too personal ... all i can tell you.. is they look like mine... from the bigboxstore 14 years ago .... and on that basis.. who knows what mine really are... never gave it a second thought ... lol

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: llink

Bboy

You mentioned they looked bad. Meaning more water?

Went out in the car later, drove by multiple 'Smaragd' with same foliage structure as these.

Mulching would probably improve your results quite a bit.