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Plants for Autumn Interest
When used and maintained properly,  Arborvitaes offer landscapes unique grace and texture.  American arborvitae, also called Thuja occidentalis (Northern white-cedar), has received an unfortunate reputation largely because it has been overused  in the landscape.  Arborvitaes are often seen as sheared foundation plants; at corners of driveways or along highways where they are desiccated by road salt or at house corners where if not appearing as giant rockets, they are bent and contorted by ice and snow.  If allowed to develop naturally rather than sheared into tight geometric shapes, various forms can produce beautiful moss green to dark green mounds of tall, stately peaks.  Given sufficient space and light, specimens retain their branches to the ground.  Deprived of these two natural requirements, branches develop foliage only on the side exposed to light.

Culture and Care:  Cool, moist, well-drained acid soil with abundant organic matter is best for arborvitae culture, but good performance is also found in soils with a neutral pH.  Unlike many landscape plants, arborvitaes do remarkably well in clay soil.  Arborvitaes often look best in light shade, especially during cold, sunny winter months. 

Transplant any time of year, but if transplanting in late summer and fall, the root zone must be kept moist and well-mulched to reduce possible wind desiccation in winter.  Mulching will also help retain moisture during summer dry spells.  When a plant takes on an odd gray hue, it is already dead.  Sometimes it takes a couple of seasons for the entire plant to succumb from just one season of drought.

Snow and ice often destroy multi-stemmed varieties.  Once bent beneath the weight, they can seldom be righted again and grow worse with each successive storm.  Snow and ice damage can be reduced if single trunk specimens are more widely used, small, young plants are pruned to a single trunk habit, and tree-form types are not sheared; a practice that encourages multiple trunks. Arborvitaes do not have significant insect or disease problems.    Bagworms, if present and uncontrolled, can defoliate large areas.  However, their occurrence on arborvitaes is not common.

Arborvitae Size Categories: 
Miniature:    Plants growing less than 3 inches per year.  The height at age 10 to 15 years would be 2 to 3 feet
Dwarf:  Grows 3 to 6 inches per year.  The height at age 10 to 15 years would be 3 to 6 feet.
Intermediate:   Grows 6 to 12 inches per year.  The height at age 10 to 15 years would be 6 to 15 feet
Large:  Grows more than 12 inches per year.  The height at age 10 to 15 years would be more than 15 feet.

Varieties Recommended and Carried by Little York Plantation:

Thuja occidentalis ‘brandon’: A fast growing, compact, columnar form with dense, bright green Summer foliage. A very hardy cultivar.  Mature height 12-15 feet.
Thuja occidentalis ‘emerald smaragd’: Emerald green summer color turns yellow-green in winter.  It is heat tolerant, slow growing, and can develop multiple trunks.  Mature height 10-15 feet.
Thuja occidentalis ‘globosa woodward’: Retains globe shape without trimming; rich green foliage.  Mature height 4 feet.
Thuja occidentalis ‘hetz midget’:  A slow growing, densely globose selection.  Foliage is dark, bluish green turning yellow-green in winter.  Excellent in foundation and low border plantings.  Mature height 2 feet.
Thuja occidentalis ‘holmstrup’: One of the best dwarf, conical selections that deserves to be used more; a slow grower with narrow form.  Summer color is bright green changing to gray-green in winter.  Makes            an excellent foundation plant, low hedge or accent plant in a mixed border.  Mature height 4-5 feet.
Thuja occidentalis ‘little gem’: Grows slowly into a mounding, lumpy habit that becomes slightly conical with     age.  It is dark green in summer and turns bright yellow-green in winter.  Suit able for a foundation or border, it reaches a mature size of 3 feet high and 4 feet wide.  
Thuja occidentalis ‘pyramidalis’: A narrow, fast-growing, single-trunked form that grows 25 feet tall and only 5 feet wide.  Summer foliage is dark green with lighter tips that be come yellowish-green in winter.
Thuja occidentalis ‘rheingold’: Rounded to broadly conical shape with a mixture of adult and juvenile foliage. Color is gold with yellow-orange highlights.  Versatile in the landscape and can be used as an accent, specimen or border plant or mixed with herbaceous plants for wonderful color contrast.
Thuja occidentalis ‘shermanii’: Dark green foliage with heavy, thick appearance.  Broad pyramidal shape. Mature height 25-30 feet.  
Thuja occidentalis ‘techny’: Grows as an upright, oval tree with a broad base.  It is slow growing and makes an excellent screen or hedge.  Foliage is dark green year-round.  Mature height 12-15 feet.  
Thuja occidentalis ‘wareana’: A tough evergreen useful for screens and wind breaks.  Habit is conical with a broad base.  Mature height 12-15 feet.
Thuja orientalis ‘elegantissima’: Excellent large screen or specimen plant with rapid growth rate, pyramidal shape and dense texture.  Mature height 12-15 feet.

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