Plant ID # 3s544 The Green Giant Arborvita
Plant Selection for Pa: Green Giant Arborvitae or
Leyland Cypress? Which One Would I Select? I always
would select the Green Giant, here is why.........
Leyland
cypresses are not fairing well in many landscapes.
It is a fast growing tree used in boarders and
screens that had relatively few pest problems.
Now, it is has been suffering from branch die-back.
Sadly, it can cause the death of the tree. Seiridium
canker is the cause. This disease is not to the
point of wiping out this tree, but I would recommend
not planting this tree as it likely will in the
future be a major concern. Why plant a tree that
is not going to be healthy or is suspect? Thus
landscape designers should seek a replacement for
the Leyland Cypress. One great choice is the Green
Giant Arborvitae. Green Giant arborvitae is becoming
a superstar in the plant world. It is the most
popular arborvitae next to the Emerald Green Arbor
vita. The reason for its success is that it fills
landscape needs that are important. It will help
block large unsightly neighbors quickly and is
basically pest free. It is also a plant that is
in the public domain and not protected by a patent.
Thus anyone can propagate this plant. The original
Green Giant got its name not from ancient lore,
but from unusually extra large, hence "giant," green
peas. These "Green Giant Peas" were a
new "strain," a new species, introduced
by the Minnesota Valley Canning Company in 1925.
You see, these were huge peas when compared to
the previously marketed baby peas early-picked
in June (that's sure early in co-o-o-old Minnesota).
LeSueur baby peas are still sold today in their
classic silver can as a gourmet vegetable. Founded
back in 1903, Minnesota Valley Canning was a pea
company located along the Minnesota River, which
was the Dakota Sioux name for "cloudy water," just
southwest of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the state
capital. This is where there's a bottom land "confluence" with
the even cloudier, soil-rich, muddier Mississippi
River. The whole area, including surrounding towns
like LeSueur, got the title, the "Minnesota
Valley." Ohhh. And where did THAT name, LeSeur,
come from you may be wondering? Lesueur is the
name of the original explorer of the area, a Frenchmen
of the early 1700's. Minnesota is amidst the land
of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe, tall tales
about them a part of he culture. Maybe the stories
gave rise to ideas for how to advertise Green Giant
Peas. The "Jolly Green Giant" became
incredibly popular as the way to advertise those
Green Giant Peas and by 1950 he was an "icon" as
we say today. There was a cartoon character created,
ubiquitous TV commercials and print advertising,
even "giant-sized" highway billboards,
so the company changed its name to his. So that
is where the "Green Giant" comes from,
20th century modern marketing, not ancient lore.
The Green Giant Thuja Plicata is in the same Juniper
family as the original "tree of life" Arborvitae,
but with growth rates as fast as three feet per
year (gee, bamboo's the fastest grower at five
feet per, but it's just grass). Thuja Plicata trees
grow to heights beyond 200 feet in the Pacific
Northwest, this Western Red Cedar is indeed worthy
of also taking the Green Giant name.
The
Green Giant Arborvitae is more properly named by
tree scientists the "Thuja Plicata," with
the other common historic names being, "giant
cedar," also "western cedar," and "red
cedar." There's only one other Arborvitae
specie in all of North America, the "eastern
cedar," or "white cedar," with "Thuja
Occidentalis," as the tree scientist's Latin
name, the botanist's name. This short tree is actually
what we usually think of when the "genus" juniper
is mentioned.
Funny
that the eastern cedar was given the Latin name
for "west" which is "occidental." You
see? As I have observed before, what's in a name?
Highland Hill Farm is not located in a town called
Highland Hills, or, on Highland Hill Road, etc.
Scottish Highland Hills cows that we grazed on
our first property provided our company with a
distinctive name when we sold our first trees in
1978.
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continues below
Green Giant Arborvitae ranges naturally
all across the United States from Massachusetts, southwesterly
to Texas and New Mexico, through northern Arizona,
up the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the state of Washington,
and British Columbia beyond.
What
does arborvitae mean anyway? Now that we know
about the derivation of "Green Giant," here's
how the Latin name Arborvitae, or "tree of
life," came about. As the first explorers
of Canada were mapping the St. Lawrence River in
1536, the tree was used for medicine which saved
their leader and most of the men too. Jacques Cartier
explored the islands off eastern Canada, and then
sailed westward where he entered the St. Lawrence
River and found Quebec and a Royal Mountain (Mont
Real, which is now called "Montreal").
Cartier was searching for the passage to China
so many other explorers would also fail to find.
Cartier and his men had to spend a long winter
inside a little fort, away from the any sun, where
they subsisted on meat, fish, and bread, eating
no fruits or vegetables. As scurvy was killing
most all of them, a friendly Huron Indian gave
Cartier's crew tea made from the needles and bark
of a tree which looked like the white cedars of
Europe. So Cartier took some trees back to France
with him, these Thuja Occidentalis Eastern White
Cedars, naming them "Arborvitae," the
tree of life. How about that?
Arborvitae are native to the pacific northwest where
they grow to 200 feet tall, usually 50 to 70 feet
is the common height, even including here in Bucks
county. Arborvitae do best in wet forests and swamps.
The Green Giant appearance is due to this specie's
wide 15-25 foot wide base, the slightly tapering
conical shape, and the dense branches and leaves
casting great dark shadows. The Arborvitae grows
in zones 6 to 8, environments with temperatures
that get as low as 10 degrees below 0 Fahrenheit,
such as in Missouri or Pennsylvania, to environments
where winter temperatures get only as low as 20
degrees above 0 Fahrenheit, such as mid-Texas and
northern Florida.
Green Giant Arborvitae have pretty,
yet surprisingly tiny yellow flowers. The "pine cones," the
fruit actually, of the tree, follow the budding
of the flowers and are also surprisingly small
compared
to the size of a mature tree, being no more than
a half-inch in size. There are no problems with
tree litter understandably, and so few animals
are attracted
to the Green Giant Arborvitae, perhaps because
of this description.
The Green Giant Arborvitae is
recommended for growing as a hedge or privacy
buffer along a
property line,
or driveway. Thuja Plicata, Western Red Cedars
are ideal "windrow" trees. In a row,
they'll truly diminish the wind. The Green Giant
Arborvitae is justifiably considered wind resistant
considering the windswept mountains of the Pacific
northwest. The wood itself is weak, but it is
very light. Green Giant Arborvitae do have better
deer
resistance than most arborvitae. These trees
have been planted in high deer population areas.
On
our farm in Doylestown we have lots of deer and
do have damage the Emerald Green Arborvitae.
The Green Giants are eaten a nibble here and
there
but not very hard. Based on our own observations
over the years we feel that the Green Giants
will only be eaten by deer if there is no other
feed
available.
Now that you know all about 'em, Highland Hill Farm
has at least 50 or more Green Giant Arborvitae
in our nursery ready for pickup at any time. They
will range from 1.5' to 12' and be balled and burlapped
or potted. We also have field liners and seedling
Green Giant available. There are many more varieties
of arborvitae available which we have in stock.
If we don't stock the variety you want we will
find it for you if possible. See Bills other web
sites at http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http:www.zone5trees.com
by Bill Hirst
