How to create a privacy fence with emerald green arborvitae trees.

In this video I use emerald green arborvitaes to create a natural tree line hedge for part of my backyard for privacy. I'll show you how to go from bare ground to planted trees. Below are a few links to some products that I used for planting them.
Plant-Tone Fertilizer (Update: Use plant-tone for arborvitae’s, not Holly-tone)
amzn.to/42wVugy
Groundskeeper II Rake
amzn.to/3OZzoN3
Gorilla Dump Cart
amzn.to/3uFmDPm

[@PTProgress]

Great addition to the yard! How often do you expect to water them early on? 1x a day at least?

[@Type5Reviews]

I’ll be giving these 10 gallons of water each week. The key to proper watering is deep and infrequent to give the soil time to drain and a chance for the roots to get oxygen as well. I’ll be posting a watering video for them soon. 👍🏻

[@itv6669]

Nice video. To the point, no time waste, and a good motivational video for DIY familes.

[@Type5Reviews]

Thanks.

[@davidseale4098]

Thank you. This was very helpful.

[@juliemcglade5697]

Looks Great!

[@af7602]

Great vid/work. After I bought my home, I planted 30 arborvitae going up the line as a natural fence 20 years ago. Only thing is, I didn't know the deer thought they were cotton candy. From the bottom to about 6 feet up, they eat them. No amount of deer "repellant" worked. Now, keeping the trees and getting an estimates on a 6 foot privacy wall. New neighbor aka "Mrs. Kravitz" moved in next door.

[@pal98111]

Depending on climate zone, wax mirtles or cherry laurels make great evergreen screening bushes/trees. Not as instant but much nicer and the birds like both.

[@jcferg7733]

Excellent video.

[@gwendolynmccall211]

those look good!

[@robertgilkey8812]

Is there a follow up video of this project? It looks awesome.

[@autumnfeldpausch5539]

So far weve planted 16 and 4 have died, usually death occured same year we planted and weve a mixture of these with another type (cant remember the name, so many of them). Ones that died were either wrong placement or lack of watering or they were already gonners when we bought them & didnt realize it til its too late. We never measured, never leveled the ground. I have very good eyeballing skills and my husband has great diging skills. So far, our back yard looks very nice, and that includes a new vinyl fence, azaleas, rose bushes, couple fire bush "trees" and a patio. Now we just need to buy our 4 surrounding neighbor's houses for added peace and privacy

[@mervinprone]

They can’t be watered enough in the first year. Especially late fall, just before winter freeze.

[@autumnfeldpausch5539]

@mervinprone I'm agreeing with you. After a year later and learning from our mistakes.

[@darrellh9060]

I have a bunch of these, Deer herds have them eaten from the ground up to 5 feet they all look like giant green spears now , you can use all the deterrent stuff on the planet it works for about a month and ends up costing several times more than the bushes cost. One deer proof alternative is Boxwoods .

[@Type5Reviews]

That’s good to know, and I’ve seen others post concerns about deer as well. Fortunately for myself in my neighborhood we don’t get a lot of deer so this hasn’t been as issue for me, but I can see how it could be.

[@percival23]

In my experience arborvitae's will actually grown very slim when planted very close to each other . Mine are only about 30 inches apart and were barley 3ft high when planted. I wanted an Italian Cypress look but I needed a tree that could handle the Northeast. It worked well and the tree's are about 13 feet now.

[@angeloc700]

Great job! You must be (or have been) a professional landscaper. In a couple years those will blend in and your yard will be an oasis.

[@cravatenoire3269]

Please suggest a Juniper like tree to grow on hard laterite foothill in a tropical climate with around 40% Sun beside 10-12 feet tall Boundary Wall facing higher side of land for front yard privacy and decor. TYVM PS: Though of different climate Similar Tall trees (guessing Cypres) found in Granada Spain seemed interesting

[@willgaither2478]

It’s important to spray the trees with Bifen at least monthly during warmer months. If not sprayed monthly, insects (mites) will eat them up. I have three tall ones in my landscape and I spray them monthly from April - September.

[@Type5Reviews]

Good advice. 👍🏻

[@michaelgusovsky]

absolutely not. i'd rather suffer a little insect damage, than poison my home. "Bifenthrin was included in a biocide ban proposed by the Swedish Chemicals Agency, because of its carcinogenic effect. "

[@TheNotoriousNemo]

dang, those are nice

[@michaelcrosta]

Emerald arbs are nice but if you want a deer resistant plant and a plant that grows much faster i have had great success with Green Giant Arborvitaes . These plants grow 2 ft a year if they get enough sun and you would use half as many plants . You would not have to stagger them. if you prune the tops the first few years they spread out and get wider really quick. I did a similar project at my daughters house and the nursery told me to spread them out 8 ft apart on center for the 5ft Arbs I though that was a little to much so I went 6 ft and pruned the tops of the 12 Arbs the first 3 years . The neighbors had a 5 ft fence by 3 years they were almost hedged by 5 yrs not only can you not see there fence you cannot see there house which is about 100 ft away from the fence. You did I nice job with those Emeralds !

[@Type5Reviews]

Thanks. I actually have green giants along the back and other side of my yard and really like those. Very tall and grow really fast. I thought about them for this area but went with the emerald greens because I didn’t want them to get too wide.

[@georgeboettjer9063]

Cool😊

[@westhavenor9513]

Very nice job, but at age 60 I don't know if I want to wait 20 years to enjoy my privacy screen, so I planted a mix of leyland cypress and red-tip photinia. Should be good to go in 5 years.

[@raczyk]

How far from the fence did you play plant the cedar trees?

[@Dom-pf8wd]

Nice job, they look great already!Would love to see them in a few years.Mind if I ask where you are located (zone?)?

[@Type5Reviews]

Northwest Indiana. Zone 5/6

[@junemarie1821]

Planted right below a tree. did you build up a bed

[@wernerlampe8089]

… We in Germany call these bushes cemetery rockets. … 🤣

[@jmd12127]

Good job. Is that spacing 4 feet horizontally, or 4 feet diagonally on-center?

[@Type5Reviews]

Horizontally.

[@insomniac2446]

I had 19ft trees planted but they didn’t take that cloth off at the bottom of them is that ok. I always thought that might suffocate the roots or something. I planted 13 of them and two seem to be yellowing more then the rest.

[@Type5Reviews]

A lot of places will bury the trees with the burlap still on it. Technically the burlap will decay over time and shouldn’t be an issue and on trees that large I’d imagine there could be a different issue at play for those 2 specifically. Of course the transplanting process is quite a shock for most trees. There could be root damage from when they were dug up, too much or too little water, or insects etc. If you have a soil moisture probe you could check the moisture level on those trees vs your good ones. Good luck.

[@butchgreene]

How much did they cost per tree?

[@thomastjg53]

I like these trees but ,every fall I have to put a deer fence around them , till may so the deer won’t eat them. Has worked for me so far.

[@mlhm5]

two steps that would have helped. Fill the dug hole with water and let it soak in the surrounding area at least twice and after you plant the tree fill it with water for at least two times and keep it wet for a week.

[@billwang4086]

Wait till your first heavy snow if an area that gets snow and the trees split bc they have multiple leaders

[@fredrelay1052]

The best privacy tree is the "American Pillar" arborvitae. Nothing grows faster, super dense, very narrow at the base. I am willing to fight anyone who disagrees.

[@Type5Reviews]

Great suggestion. I have a corner near my shed where I’m looking to plant another and an American Pillar arborvitae would go great there.

[@aliceke2542]

❤

[@jusgiu]

One line of emeralds was totally enough as the became larger year by year..

[@optimusprime6889]

I was using hollytone until a lot of arborist advise to use plant tone especially for emeralds. Mine are doing much better.

[@Type5Reviews]

That’s correct. I incorrectly used Hollytone in this video but have since updated my description to say to use plant tone. Glad yours are doing well.

[@jansenwuisan6816]

Where did you buy the trees? Buying it at 6 ft already must have been expensive!!

[@Type5Reviews]

At one of my local nurseries. The owner was clearing out this group of 13 for about $1000, which was still about half off of what they normally would go for….They say money can’t buy time, except for trees….then you are paying for time. 😂

[@hiimappy]

i bought 3 gal 3-6' tall emerald greens for 8$ each...spent around 130 or so because the taller ones are expensive!!

[@angeloc700]

@@hiimappy where?!?

[@DeepakShaw]

Thanks, where to buy these trees and price range please..

[@Type5Reviews]

You can find them at your local nursery or at Home Depot or Lowe’s, etc for around $70 each depending on the size.

[@invictusmaneo464]

Jak ty feťáci z Bodeguity zaplatí tvým sousedům, aby tě stalkovali a pak vytáhnou video, ve kterým radí, jak na to, aby měl člověk více soukromí :D Jste kouzelný :D Úplně odtržený od reality! Jaktože můžete k volbám?! :D

[@debbart9394]

Good video, the only thing I would do differently is plant Thuja Green Giants instead, less trees needed and fills in a lot nicer & quicker than Emerald Green. Thuja are deer & disease resistant! I am absolutely in love with the Thuja's, the way they fill out, the foliage is nicer and grow wider than Emerald, grows aprox 3 ft per yr.

[@Type5Reviews]

Thuja’s are great! You should check out my other video below on the green giants that I planted to make a backyard fence. I had decided to use emerald greens in this section only because of how wide the green giants get. I needed them to stay narrow. How to create a fast growing privacy fence with green giant arborvitae trees. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3rboHedlLiHlcU

[@johnraviella6561]

Pretty sure emeralds are a type of thuja… and emeralds form a nice, dense hedge

[@debbart9394]

@@johnraviella6561 But the Thuja Plicata Standishii has darker richer color...

[@Funknwanker]

Thuja is the genus for abrovitae. Both emerald green and green giants are thujas.

[@debbart9394]

@@Funknwanker I know but the color and growth of both are different. I prefer the green giant for color and fullness.

[@ashihtaka]

Any update video on these trees?

[@Type5Reviews]

This was my most recent update video. I’ll probably do another this fall. How fast do arborvitaes grow? Arborvitae updates 1 year later. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b169n6Vrrq5pfMk

[@hendrehendre7458]

How is the tree doing ?

[@Type5Reviews]

You can see a quick update on the arborvitaes in one of my recent videos. Lawn Blog April 2023: Weed Prevention, Fertilizing, Moles, and Arborvitae Updates. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6bNYWdrabmgpas

[@johnh.2405]

NEVER waste your time with these if deer can get to them.

[@spawn1086]

I agree 100%... I've had good luck with thunja evergreens and Blue spuce...😮

[@goontubeassos7076]

I’ve been planting trees for 25 year aside from preparing the bed, there was a lot of waste of time steps. Obviously he’s paid by the hour, or has that mentality. It’s like he wined and dined a person willing to put out with a name exchange.

[@TheReckoningBeginsToday]

As a bow hunter. Thanks for the tip.

[@alangordon3283]

@@goontubeassos7076maybe likes hearing and watching himself too much .

[@anitaevans5361]

Amazing trees...we don't have a deer issue here in Alaska.

[@erwmlw]

I liked the look before lol

[@RderGrabenfraser]

Precisely everything on a line, precisely straight like a highway? If the ice age had a spirit level, then the earth would not be round but a disc.

[@earnestfarley]

Oh yeah..they are super cute when they are small…..then they get to 30ft and swallow up your yard

[@kippywylie]

15 years later these trees are a big problem. You must apparently lightly prune them every year to control shape & size because once they've got out of control you cannot deeply prune without creating a hideous brown dead looking stump. Ours need to come down

[@kinikinrd]

To start, you need to mention what area of the country you are in.

[@Type5Reviews]

Zone 5, northwest Indiana.

[@chipdip6577]

Looks nice but they grow 1-2 inches per year greens giants all the way

[@randomlyinteresting]

did you even measure

[@mervinprone]

I don’t see the point of two rows and planting them so far apart. The trees in front will block the ones in the back. Those are narrow growing trees and they won’t grow together for 20 years.

[@drinny26]

These are the worst things someone should use for privacy hedges. One gets a disease then they all can die. Best to use a variety of ever greens that grow the same height. Visually it looks beautiful and if one gets sick chances are the rest will be completely fine.

[@stavroslask1292]

But the biggest available if you want 5-6 foot get 1 size up as a rule of thumb!!!!

[@slickchick5811]

that is one thick oak

[@unfaix]

No money, need privacy, what to do?

[@kinghenry100]

Why did u need privacy trees there when you have got a big fence already

[@orlandob9958]

Growth rate on these trees is very slow. To be able to achieve that growth of a foot per year you’d need more than 6 hours of full sun plus two feedings per year, otherwise you get only 3 to 5 inches of growth in height. I planted a few in the front of my yard 6 years ago. All were a foot tall and in buckets. I now have 2 - 8 footers and the rest around 5 feet. Of course the big ones got all day sun while the others got semi and it showed in their growth. This year I’m transplanting the shorter ones to an area with more sun.

[@Type5Reviews]

Great advice. Thanks for sharing.

[@HitsandHeadlines]

Italian Cypress > arborvitae

[@laureenignarro8030]

Never water before you dig and the hole should be at least twice the width of the root ball. Then soak the hole and gauge the drainage then amend if necessary.

[@billjones3071]

Never remove burlap that’s totally not needed, you spread them apart to much for a wall of green look

[@alfonsomartinez1657]

I respectfully disagree. That is the first thing is taught in Horticulture at the University.

[@billjones3071]

Interesting, I’m not an expert, I planted 10 of the same shrubs about 12 years ago along a fence line, the guys that delivered them said just put them in, they were 6’ at purchase they are now at least 14-15’ , I guess what ever works, thanks anyway great job best of luck 👍

[@westhavenor9513]

Always remove the burlap. People think it easily decomposes, but I dig it up all the time in 20-year-old plantings. But I will say that hosing the clay soil out of the roots is not necessary and probably causes more shock to the plant.

[@Aidengaming0816]

Also a waste of time in co. They will dry up and die.

[@plasmapanasonic4741]

Negged

[@MaekarManastorm]

Bamboo is better

[@westhavenor9513]

Yes, but your neighbors will hate you when they spread

[@sunnybeachwalks4k2022]

Or just build a proper fence without holes in it 😂

[@BobBob-dx5jx]

Just paint your fence…..

[@W.Vanderbilt]

Great Job! Excellent and exactly what I was looking for!!!! "A 10" "A Fucking 10"

[@xsdkx8514]

Need privacy ? Just buy land and don’t worry about anything lol 😭

[@Funknwanker]

Emerald green arborvitae are horrible trees. Deers love to eat them so hope you have none near by. One bitter cold windy winter will knock them out and you are replanting them. They are extraordinarily messy and insects as well as ticks love them. There also is not Need to remove the burlap from the root ball and score the roots. It is not like a container plant where it is confined and the roots need encouragement to spread. Balled and burlapped trees are cut from the ground and wrapped and most of the time are sold shortly after. The burlap will decomposed and the root easily grow through them. Personally sky rocket hollies are much better.

[@matthewbourgoin8466]

Tell ‘em why ya mad.

[@leaf2180]

This comment is at the bottom of the comment section for a reason. While it's true you don't need to remove the burlap, it definitely doesn't hurt if the soil is hard clay. Also, them getting eaten by deer doesn't make them bad trees. Deer will eat anything that's not protected, which is why I never plant anything without covering it from the deer for at least the first year or two. And idk what you mean by replanting after a harsh winter. We've had Winter's here where we never get above 20°F they've spent days under heavy snow. But they never died. They come out a nice dark green in the spring. Perhaps you just don't take care of them properly.

[@Funknwanker]

@@leaf2180 - just working in the gardening industry selling and I stalling thousands of these along with other annuals, perennial, trees and shrubs have given me a lot of first hand experience. Emerald green arborvitae are hated among the experts because of everything I listed. Customers like them because they are cheap. Removing the burlap because of hard clay make no sense at all. Removing the burlap does not suddenly make root stronger to go through clay. The clay soil needs to be amended first by adding a soil conditioner like humus.

[@leaf2180]

@@Funknwanker 1. They're not cheap. A decent sized tree is easily over $100 2. Every expert I've come across has emerald green as one of their top picks for a screen or just for the flowerbed. And what I'm saying about burlap is the hard dirt around the root ball. Not what the ground soil is. It's best to break up the dirt and the roots, I've done it for years.

[@Funknwanker]

@@leaf2180 - cheap is relative and yes they are cheap as compared to other trees of the same size used for the same purpose. I would hazard a guess the “experts” you spoke of are the ones we referred to as landscrapers because they know nothing about plants. The only ones I knew who loved the emerald green arborvitae were these landscrapers who took advantage of the fact that these trees were cheaper, smaller rootball and they could shove a lot of them close together to make a quick buck. They never advised the customer properly and often the customer would have to buy more. You never remove the burlap and disturb a root ball of a b&b tree. The tree is already stressed due to having its roots cut and the tree has become temporarily delicate as compared to when they are established. Disturbing the rootball can lead to additional damage to the already tender roots. I can tell you from experience from diagnosing what caused the death of many plants at the hands of people not knowing what they are doing, including “landscrapers”, that removing the burlap and disturbing the rootball was common among all of the trees that died in a short period. Another problem with disturbing the root ball of a b&b tree is it can cause void to appear around the roots which allows water to pool, this causes rot and kills the tree. I have sold and planted thousands of shrubs and trees both b&b and container as a profession. Have you planted thousands and have been paid to do so?

[@infinitive8888]

If you live in the city, don’t do this fbs!

[@briana6181]

Honestly, I thought the old landscaping looked better, and I don’t get any sense of privacy from those trees. Sorry.

[@ronaldmacdonald938]

Most useless shrubs in America

[@oneway707]

TALK LOUDER. please

[@Unknown70896]

Id throw your green waste back to you.. if you plant the tree and the branch breaks off Into my yard... Yeah you will take it back and pay to go get rid of it. Lol. You should add (I'm an annoying neighbor) to this vid title.

[@trumpetpunk42]

Sounds like YOU are the annoying neighbor

[@westhavenor9513]

Sounds like you are the annoying neighbor. I'll bet you own a large dog that barks incessantly.

[@infinitive8888]

They are rich and have money and time to waste, so let them do what they think they are smart.