The Arborvitae Memorial Thread

They were hit harder than any species around here this summer.

If you would like to memorialize your dead arborvitae, you can post your pic here.

drummerboy said:

They were hit harder than any species around here this summer.

If you would like to memorialize your dead arborvitae, you can post your pic here.

Best year yet in Ocean County!

I have been noticing a lot of this happening to Emerald Greens this year.

We have a drip irrigation watering ours.  And I also feed them with this every year:

jamie said:

I have been noticing a lot of this happening to Emerald Greens this year.

We have a drip irrigation watering ours.  And I also feed them with this every year:

Pretty much why I almost always suggest Skip Laurels!

drummerboy said:

They were hit harder than any species around here this summer.

If you would like to memorialize your dead arborvitae, you can post your pic here.

Arborvitae has given us years of patio privacy with little extra care — topping off new  growth at the top to keep its height under control. First 2 or 3 years we tried photinea., a gorgeous shrub we saw on our travels and in NJ,turns flame red in the fall.  But hurricane Sandy took them out.

I've never understood why so many homeowners plant arborvitae.  

I just cut down three of them that died.  Only two survived out of the five I had. I’m noticing quite a few dead ones lately, I didn’t take a picture. 
They make a great sound barrier.

yahooyahoo said:

I've never understood why so many homeowners plant arborvitae.  

I strongly dislike them. Very sterile and artificial looking to me. Goes with the "too-perfect lawn" look, which I also dislike intensely. IMO which I am allowed to hold. ;-) I am sure lots of others disagree.

HatsOff said:

I strongly dislike them. Very sterile and artificial looking to me. Goes with the "too-perfect lawn" look, which I also dislike intensely. IMO which I am allowed to hold. ;-) I am sure lots of others disagree.

Following this tangent....

Recs for local nurseries and garden centers for introducing more native and sustainable landscaping and practices? Coming up on a year of owning property, and I've been disappointed to find out that both the Big Box places like Home Depot and Lowes, and the non-chains as well, still seem geared more toward the heavily manicured, controlled lawn (just one or two brands of grass seeds, all coated in chemicals for instance; plants and flowers for sale generally non-native, etc).

It's all a bit overwhelming and I'm not even sure where to start getting local resources to advise.

PVW said:

HatsOff said:

I strongly dislike them. Very sterile and artificial looking to me. Goes with the "too-perfect lawn" look, which I also dislike intensely. IMO which I am allowed to hold. ;-) I am sure lots of others disagree.

Following this tangent....

Recs for local nurseries and garden centers for introducing more native and sustainable landscaping and practices? Coming up on a year of owning property, and I've been disappointed to find out that both the Big Box places like Home Depot and Lowes, and the non-chains as well, still seem geared more toward the heavily manicured, controlled lawn (just one or two brands of grass seeds, all coated in chemicals for instance; plants and flowers for sale generally non-native, etc).

It's all a bit overwhelming and I'm not even sure where to start getting local resources to advise.

Try contacting the Maplewood Garden Club.  They have a website and have held programs on native plants and sustainable gardening practices.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=native+plants+for+north+new+jersey

For what it's worth, the Hudson County chapter of the Native Plant Society seems to be having a plant sale on 10/1.  Vendors and other people there might be informative.

https://npsnj.org/events/

HatsOff said:

yahooyahoo said:

I've never understood why so many homeowners plant arborvitae.  

I strongly dislike them. Very sterile and artificial looking to me. Goes with the "too-perfect lawn" look, which I also dislike intensely. IMO which I am allowed to hold. ;-) I am sure lots of others disagree.

Ours are 16+ years old. Maybe a little too big but they give a lot of privacy. 

PVW said:

Following this tangent....

Recs for local nurseries and garden centers for introducing more native and sustainable landscaping and practices? Coming up on a year of owning property, and I've been disappointed to find out that both the Big Box places like Home Depot and Lowes, and the non-chains as well, still seem geared more toward the heavily manicured, controlled lawn (just one or two brands of grass seeds, all coated in chemicals for instance; plants and flowers for sale generally non-native, etc).

It's all a bit overwhelming and I'm not even sure where to start getting local resources to advise.

I have gone to Cardinal Garden Center in Springfield and asked the brown haired woman who’s maybe in her 40s the most random questions about colors and sunlight and what my choices are, and she nails it every time. I’d highly recommend trying there. 

For those of us who have arborvitae, which may look sterile but provide excellent sound and sight privacy from the street, should we have made more of an effort to water them in the summer’s drought? 

One of the things I dislike about arborvitae is exactly what people are citing as a benefit, which is their screening effect. I think they cut off a neighborhood and make it feel less friendly. It seems like a brick wall around a property ... we have a fence ordinance so that we don't have that closed-off feeling. A big wall of them seems to me like it is actively cutting off one's neighbors, which I don't understand. I have always felt that one of the advantages of living here is our open neighborhoods.

And the fact that they aren't evidently doing well locally also makes me wonder about their long-term environmental viability. It would be a shame if this trend took off, potentially cutting down healthy viable trees better suited to our climate in order to plant these - and then they die.

This isn't intended to shame anybody who has them, just expressing a difference of opinion and a real sadness at how the town is changing.

I am also interested in native plants and as I have some garden re-design to do will keep an eye on the resources listed here.

HatsOff said:

One of the things I dislike about arborvitae is exactly what people are citing as a benefit, which is their screening effect. I think they cut off a neighborhood and make it feel less friendly. It seems like a brick wall around a property ... we have a fence ordinance so that we don't have that closed-off feeling. A big wall of them seems to me like it is actively cutting off one's neighbors, which I don't understand. I have always felt that one of the advantages of living here is our open neighborhoods.

And the fact that they aren't evidently doing well locally also makes me wonder about their long-term environmental viability. It would be a shame if this trend took off, potentially cutting down healthy viable trees better suited to our climate in order to plant these - and then they die.

This isn't intended to shame anybody who has them, just expressing a difference of opinion and a real sadness at how the town is changing.

I am also interested in native plants and as I have some garden re-design to do will keep an eye on the resources listed here.

Gotta disagree here. The front of the home and streetscape is the public space.

Good fences, and good hedges, make good neighbors, when it comes to backyards.

jimmurphy said:

Gotta disagree here. The front of the home and streetscape is the public space.

Good fences, and good hedges, make good neighbors, when it comes to backyards.

I should have been clearer. I've seen walls of them around front yards. That's what I meant.  What happens in your backyard is your business!

There are some (mostly corner) lots whose backyards are on a street, and they have walls of these or similar hedges. I'm not crazy about them personally, but I really get why people would do it in this case. But the ones that encircle the entire property are the ones that make me sad.

HatsOff said:

I should have been clearer. I've seen walls of them around front yards. That's what I meant.  What happens in your backyard is your business!

There are some (mostly corner) lots whose backyards are on a street, and they have walls of these or similar hedges. I'm not crazy about them personally, but I really get why people would do it in this case. But the ones that encircle the entire property are the ones that make me sad.

Absolutely agreed.

The dead arborvitaes really do stand out - in particular on Burnett Ave in Maplewood - then further down close to the 78 entrance.  Also - in the back of Prospect Presbyterian.

Here's one group from when they were healthier.  Google says the image capture was from July 2022 - did they really turn that quickly?

I think they did die quickly, and from what I see when walking, they’re still dying.