look into a thinner plant.. de groots spire ... start with something you wont have to fight as hard ... you may not find them at bigbox ....

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Thuja+occidentalis+%27DeGroot%27s+Spire%27&t=ffcm&ia=web

though less wide.. it has taller potential ...

you would have to get.. and maintain single leaders .. if you allow multiples... then they get wider ...

otherwise... anything can be pruned anyway you want.. the key would be to have/set a goal ... and keep at it over the years .... you need to start smaller than the goal ... rather than buying larger plants.. and then trying to cut the too far back ....

if you more fully explained the project ... including maybe a pic or two ... we might be able to give you other options ... rather than the ubiquitous arb ...

it would also be helpful to know where you are. big city name ... as how fast they grow .. differs as you go further north or south ... its a length of growing season variable ....

ken

I haven't been successful in keeping emerald arbs super tight. Like ken said, need location to suggest alternatives

Hmmmm.....DeGroot's Spire isn't any skinner than Smaragd (the Emerald Greens). In fact, it is about double the width at maturity (4-6' compared to 3-4').

Yes, you can shear to keep a neat, tight profile. If one can shear Leyland cypress into a 3-4' wide hedge, you can certainly do so with arbs. You just need to do it lightly and often and before they get too wide to begin with. And it works best if these are spaced to provide a solid hedge. Pruning individual plants to remain smaller in width takes a lot more time and effort than it does to lightly shear back a 2 dimensional solid wall a couple of times a year.

absolutely no snow load damage on DeG's

snow load is what open EGs up as they age ... especially as most sold.. are multi trunk plants ... and its in those multiple trunks .... where it no longer is the width stated in estimates ... whatever you use... look for single leader plants ... it really is the most important variable ... when thinness is at issue ...

oh.. and from personal experience ... what joy you might get in annual shearing/pruning ... can become a giant PIA 5.. 10... 15 years down the line ... but by then.. you might not care if they infringe on the lawn you dont use anymore ... lol ...

ken

And I would counter that sheared EG arbs are far less troubled by snowloads than those that are left unsheared/unpruned. If maintained in this manner, they do not produce the long, upsweeping branching that can catch and hold snow and then bend or splay with its weight. It has very little to do with multiple leaders and everything to do with growth habit. Even De Groot's can be exposed to this sort of damage.

I have a Degroot's Spire that is 10 feet tall and only 18 inches at the widest part of the base. Never sheared and never affected by snow or ice. I bought it small and pruned it into a single leadered tree. A beautiful and durable variety of arborvitae, easily one of my favorites.

However, I have a bigger Degroot's (about 14 feet) that had the top 8-9 inches broken off in June. I am convinced that a neighborhood hawk landed on it and snapped it.