My wife and i would like to plant some cedar hedges in our backyard. There would be a lot of ground to cover (about 150 feet) and cost is of concern. We don't want to spend too much, but we also don't want to go on the cheap and suffer the consequences. We're thinking of going with a local company (i'm in Ottawa by the way) that sells White Cedar (or Wild Cedar as is locally known) grown in Peterborough Ontario. They sell them, installed, at 16/tree. Great price, but our concern is with the type of cedar. Is the White Cedar considered a good choice for hedges, in that, they provide a good looking, thick, private hedge? Or are they difficult to grow? We live in an area that is high in sand, so they would be planted in a mix of soil and sand. I understand they require a lot of water, and that's okay i don't mind watering them but i am concerned that the look and the thickness will be difficult to achieve. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
If by "White Cedar" you mean Thuja occidentalis, ask them if they are selling a particular cultivar like 'Emerald Green' or 'Holmstrup' or whatever. Whether it is a cultivar or the straight species will determine its size and shape. tj
Plant in existing sandy soil, without adding different soil - unless you excavate and replace the entire potential rooting area with different soil. If site is too sandy for arborvitaes (are there native Thuja plicata nearby?) then most direct approach is to choose something more suited to sandy soil, maybe pines or true cedars (Cedrus). Cultivar name of emerald arborvitae is 'Smaragd' and not 'Emerald Green', which is a translation of 'Smaragd'.
Thanks TJ and Ron, i appreciate the knowledge. The sellers only say that it's the native, "typical" northern white cedars so i know the one's they mean now. I hear that if i want a quick privacy hedge, that i should keep them close (about a foot apart) when planting. This obviously means more trees (and thus, more money) but would i be hurting my chances of a quick privacy hedge if i was to go every 1.5? How about 2 feet? Thanks again.
