Frequently Asked Questions

These plants come by their name earnestly – they are some of the fastest-growing arborvitae on the market. Full Speed A Hedge ‘American Pillar’ is the faster of the two, putting on 40″/101cm or more of new growth each year under ideal growing conditions. But Full Speed A Hedge Thin Man is no slouch when it comes to growth rate, and can grow 8″/20cm/year under ideal conditions.

We offer a list of retailers here. Your local garden center may be able to order them for you from their supplier, if they do not regularly stock them.

Price varies according to the size, and each retailer is free to set their own pricing. Please see individual websites for more information.

We recommend at least four hours of sun – or filtered light all day – for the best looking plants. While they probably won’t die in more shade, the plant will grow with a sparse, open habit that doesn’t provide maximum privacy or coverage.

Yes, it’s true – deer do devour arborvitae, especially Eastern arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis. As a hybrid selection, Full Speed A Hedge ‘American Pillar’ does have better deer resistance than other arborvitae, but if deer are frequent visitors to your yard, plants should be protected with fence, netting, or a repellent, particularly when they are young and in winter and early spring when other food sources are scarce.

Arborvitae can be extremely long-lived plants. In an average residential setting with good care (water during hot, dry periods, occasional fertilizing), they should live at least 40-50 years.

This is possible, though if you wish to attempt it, you’ll find it turns this normally low-maintenance plant into one that needs quite a bit more attention. It is imperative to avoid letting the plant create any wood that’s thicker than an average pinky finger; cutting into stems much thicker than that will risk leaving unsightly holes in the hedge. Plants will need to be monitored closely and trimmed as needed, not on a particular schedule.

Bagworms are the larvae of a moth that create their own protective shelter made of leaves and twigs as they feed on the plant. Many conifers are susceptible to bagworm. Note that bagworms are opportunistic and far more likely to proliferate on plants that are stressed and unhealthy, so the best defense is keeping your plant healthy and growing vigorously. Here’s an article where you can learn more about bagworms.

Click here to see our chart comparing the most popular arborvitae varieties will help you understand how they are similar and how they differ. 

Fertilizing arborvitae isn’t strictly necessary, but it will help them grow more quickly so you get privacy faster. We recommend applying a granular (not liquid) fertilizer formulated for woody plants, like a rose or tree fertilizer, in early spring. In cold climates, wait until the soil has thawed. You can fertilize arborvitae monthly from early spring through late July if desired; do not fertilize any later in season, as that can push soft new growth that could be damaged by cold temperatures in fall and winter. 

The best time to plant arborvitae – and really, any evergreen – depends where you are located. In cold climates (USDA zones 2-6), it’s generally best to plant in spring-early summer. This gives the plant sufficient time to develop a good root system to sustain it through winter. In these cooler areas, you can plant in summer, provided you will be around to carefully monitor watering so they don’t experience water stress during the hottest days of summer. While fall planting in cool climates is not ideal, it can be done, but you will want to definitely have a good 3″ layer of mulch over the roots of the plant for winter, and you will need to check watering frequently through fall and early winter to ensure that the plants get enough water up until the ground freezes. Once that happens, they are unable to take up any water to replace the moisture they lose through their evergreen foliage from winter sun and winds. 

In warm climates (USDA zones 7 and 8), the best times to plant arborvitae are spring and early-mid fall. Both of these time frames give the plants time to get established under favorable conditions (cooler temperatures, typically good rainfall) before stressful weather like heat, wind, and ice, set in. As in cooler climates, a good 2-3″ layer of shredded bark mulch is recommended over the root zones throughout the year. 

Arborvitae is the common name for this plant – it translates to “tree of life” in Latin. Thuja, on the other hand, is the scientific name (also known as the botanical name) for the plant. It is pronounced thoo-yuh. Both names are correct, but arborvitae is what is used most widely in garden centers and on websites.