you know the discussion about using a latin name for a plant ... .. for precision sake .... as compared to using common names ....

well ... its a tree... its a conifer ... and its commonly called a shrub ...

to me.. as a collector... the word shrub means nothing .... its what dad used to call all the evergreen in our MI yard ...

sooo .. i dont understand the question.. when you say it doesnt look like a shrub???

with me.. or should i try again ...

ken

ps... find the latin name ... then go to images.. and you should be able to see it in all its glory ... i will make it easy this time ... bazinga ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=thuja+occidentalis+Polar+Gold+&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images

Was seen to reach 2 meters (6.6 ft) in 4 years.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=PP25388.PN.&OS=PN/PP25388&RS=PN/PP25388

Patent description at preceding link also says that to a large extent it amounts to a yellow T. occidentalis 'Brandon'.

Certain definitions are arbitrary. A shrub is defined as generally being shorter and gaving multiple stems. A tree is usually defined as being taller and having one or at most a few-but the point is a limited number-stems, or trunks.

Some shrubs can be taller than some trees. Ex: certain viburnum and japanese maple.

Generally, coniferous trees are spruces, pines, furs, western arb. American arb, for all the size it can attain, in terms of marketing, is usually considered a shrub. Because that's how most people use it.

Thank you for explaining. It's odd for me to think of arborvitae as a shrub, because the one I hear most about, I think it's the green giant thuja, gets really tall.

I've decided to plant this shrub. My first conifer! It's weird to plant something that I know deer can't resist, being that I live in major deer country, but I've never seen a deer in my yard in the winter. In the spring and summer they're all over the place, as they live in the forest of trees across from my house. Hopefully, my planting these shrubs won't make them now want to come over here and eat them. :< No one, absolutely no one has arborvitae where I live.

Next step...know any deer hunters?

Get a panel of concrete reinforcement wire...you can get it in big rolls or panels the size of a sheet of plywood. Make a circle a few wide. Wider is better. Put it around the plant.

I am literally surrounded by deer hunters, and bow hunters. Was your 2nd part serious? I need to get concrete reinforced wire? Yikes....

no. the wire used to reinforce concrete. or any kind of wire fence. Make a circle wide enough to keep the deer away.

I will second Wayne's comments about fencing around arborvitae for deer protection. If you don't and have deer in the garden (which I seem to recall you've mentioned), the arborvitae will be bare as far as the deer can reach IME. I have seen many specimens that are basically shaped like green lollipops with a tuft of green at the top and nothing but bare twigs at the bottom.

Do you have to fence them year round, or just during the winter? Thank you in advance for answering.

I personally don't have a lot of problem with deer since we have lots of woods where they would rather be, more out of sight from predators, including humans. The only damage I have had was on a Rheingold arborvitae in winter, and they ate almost all of it. Whether they would munch on yours in the summer would depend on deer population pressure vs. food availability in your area. I would look for arborvitae in your area. If you see nice full ones, you could try planting them, and if there are none or only ones with naked bases, I would give them a miss. My neighbors' had foliage eaten in winter, but since there was no foliage left in reach, I don't know if it would have been eaten in the summer as well.

Another variable may be the particular cultivar and species of Thuja. They ate the Rheingold, but didn't touch either the Technys or the Sunkists in the same bed, within a neck stretch of the Rheingold. I have memories of a few other of the Thujas being more deer resistant as well, but don't remember which ones.

Thank you so much for all the time you took in answering me. I always appreciate the information I learn on here. On our 1/3 acre yard, having deer fencing around evergreen shrubs year round is absolutely a nonstarter. Dh said he doesn't want to plant something that needs protection year round from deer, but he is willing to try the Thuja, and merely proving protection in the winter.

We'll plant them without any fencing and see what happens. If deer attack in the spring and summer then we'll just plant some columnar Spruces instead. I really want the Thujas to work out though, because they'll only get 12-15ft tall, and that's exactly what Im looking for.

Well, I drove into the town next to us today , and looked at every property I drove by, looking for Arbovitae. The speed limit is 30mph so it was easy to get a good look at everyone's yard.

I found 8 properties on my drive that had Arbovitae. They looked to all be the exact same variety, dark green and skinny. Anyway, 6 of the yards had Arbovitae that had split at the top, obviously from snow. One yard had ALL their arbovitaes split ALL the way down to the ground! They looked awful.

Another 2 yards had a row of Arbovitae that were in perfect condition.

That snow damage gives me pause. I wonder if I wrapped them with a snow fence if that would prevent snow damage. Out where I live I see many people wrapping their evergreen shrubs for the winter with snow fencing.