You have room for trees in this location? Or do you need something more compact, like Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd'?

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/GreenGiant.html

I think I do.....I realize they grow very tall. I was going to plant them about 3' from my neighbors 6' vinyl fence so the base won't encroach on his property line. The sky is the limit as far as height.

Here is a picture.....

Let me ask you this....can I control the width by placing them closer together? If so how close could I go? Growing against a solid fence will keep it somewhat under control.

You do not have the room for this tree there unless you maintain it as a sheared hedge. Picture Ken's 12' wide specimens with their bases 3' from the fence.

Well I guess I'll have to make a hedge out of them and trim at the base.Emerald green arbs take too long to make a privacy screen.

its is not an appropriate tree for your setting

ken

I think you have enough room for these. Ken's trees are grown presumable un-pruned, with very generous spacing, allowing the trees to grow very wide. I have a neighbor who planted a row of green giants about 15 years ago as well, and his are only about 1/2 the size of Ken's due to much closer spacing and (1) per year annual trimming, not even sheering, just light trimming to maintain shape.

I would estimate his to be about 5-6ft wide and 18-20ft tall. Extremely healthy, one of the best privacy screens around here. I will try to walk over and snap a picture. He has a row of 7 of them, and they are probably about 5ft on center.

If you are willing to give the trees a light haircut once or twice a year, green giants can make a great privacy screen, even on a suburban property. To be clear, you can still keep the natural, looser look of the foliage, it doesn't have to be maintained like an English garden hedge that is ultra formal either.

Make absolute certain that you get single leader trees, or you will have issues with snow and also end up with a wider tree. I would agree, start with 2ft pot grown plants, they will catch up. Growth rate starts off slow for the first year or two and then things really start to pick up quick. You could be at 10ft in about 6 or 7 years, potentially faster, but im not going to oversell the growth rate on these, I only get about 1ft per year from mine, maybe 1.5, but they are in partial sun

From the page I linked to above:

A hedge row of ‘Green Giant’ was planted on the grounds of the U.S. National Arboretum in 1998. At the time of
installation, the trees were 3 – 3 ½ feet tall on 6 ½ foot centers. Ten years later, the trees stand 18 – 20 feet
tall and 8 feet wide.

And maybe 20 years later they'll be double that height and spread. You can slow the growth rate of hedges markedly with shearing. But pruning a hedge that is above arm height requires climbing up and down a ladder, over and over - or setting up scaffolding (such as two ladders with a plank between). Which also has to be moved every time you are done shearing the section you can reach from the last position.

All the cut material resulting from shearing a hedge will usually also have to be picked up and disposed of somewhere afterward, each and every time. It's not like mowing a lawn, leaving the clippings in place.

It's true, there are definite trade off's for selecting one of the fasting growing trees as a hedge. The pro, privacy faster, the con, they get huge and will require maintenance on your part if you plan to keep them in check for many years. If you do decided to go this route, I'd recommend an extension pole hedge trimmer, will give you an extra 6-10ft of reach, but eventually, you would have to include a ladder as well.

Another option that fits your requirements better would be 'Hetz Wintergreen'. It stays much more narrow, but has a growth rate much closer to GG's than to the Emerald Green's you already have. It might be more difficult to source this cultivar, but may be worth the effort in the long run. One of my local nurseries carries these, so there must be wholesalers like iseli selling them. You could likely ask your local nursery to special order them for you, along with the rest of their spring order.

I'd recommend an extension pole hedge trimmer, will give you an extra 6-10ft of reach

To do this you have to be able to lift and control the weight of a power tool out on the end of a pole throughout the entire project each time, put up with the noise, fumes and upkeep of a small engine.

Sure would be a lot easier to choose a hedge that will not overwhelm the planting site.

I was referring to the electric, cordless pole hedge trimmers, that now run on lithium ion batteries. They only weight about 10lbs now, and are pretty easy to maneuver.

Something like Amazon - GreenWorks Pole ExtensionTrimmer

Here they are. For reference, the top of the Yellow sign is about 9ft high.

Thank you for the pictures....I'm looking into the wintergreen arbs. Looks like they don't grow as fast but take up less space. Hopefully I'm still alive to see them fully mature....Lol

This online site says they will have 2ft Wintergreen's this spring. $10 a piece.

http://www.evergreenplantnursery.com/Wintergreen-Pyramidal-Arborvitae-Thuja-p/arbwgr2.htm

I contacted them and unfortunately they won't be getting the #2 the 24" ones anytime soon. They have the #1 (14"-18") available for $5.96.

I realize they grow fast but 14" is pretty small.

I'd not be afraid of the little guys, Hogan. These and all plantings grow faster than many people think. Life goes on and next thing you know, there's a big tree there, or what have you. For the tiny difference in time to maturity between one size and the other, I'd rate this as no difference.

the american pillar arborvitae sounds like a perfect choice. grows to 25-30 feet tall and only 3-4 feet wide, but at same rate, several feet per yr, as green giant. http://www.americanpillarnursery.com/

You have room for anything you want to plant. It just comes down to how much lawn you want to give up.

Mike

You are nice to plan to give your neighbor 3 ft, I only had 1 ft. Probably 20 years ago my former neighbor planted 3 'Green Giants' 1 ft from the property line. Now I am pruning those 20 ft or more giants on my side annually with an extra long pruner. They want to get 6 ft or more wide also on my side, but I am giving them only 3 ft or less. 'Green Giants want to take over pathways and other plantings. I have 2 'Smaragd' close and they are much nicer, staying slim.

Embothrium(USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA)

I'd recommend an extension pole hedge trimmer, will give you an extra 6-10ft of reach

To do this you have to be able to lift and control the weight of a
power tool out on the end of a pole throughout the entire project each
time, put up with the noise, fumes and upkeep of a small engine.
Sure would be a lot easier to choose a hedge that will not overwhelm the planting

Now you're being ridiculous for the sake of it. Fumes? You're outdoors. Weight? It's a pole with a small blade on it, anyone under 70 and healthy should be able to lift it. Noise? Do you have a quiet lawn mower that mankind doesn't know about yet? Upkeep, buy another one, lawn equipment is cheaper now than 30 years ago. $20 for a weedwacker in 1989, just bought one for $16 this year.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3850094/green-giant-leyland-cypress-zone-8-pics