Evergreen thuja are very attractive and unpretentious in care, therefore, more often than other coniferous crops are used for landscaping urban parks and household plots. In order for garden compositions from thuja to maintain their beautiful shape for years, it is important to know exactly at what distance from each other and from buildings these trees should be planted. The following are key recommendations on this subject.

The use of thuja in landscape design

• In addition to being unpretentious to growing conditions, arborvitae have the following advantages:
• the needles are soft and painted in different shades of green: from golden to saturated dark green;
• color brightness is maintained even in winter;
• the bark also has a decorative color;
• the crown lends itself well to cutting, it is easily restored after it and retains the created shape for a long time;
• a variety of natural forms: cone, pyramid, ball, weeping crown structure.

For these features, thuja trees are very fond of landscape designers.

Important! In combined compositions, it is important to select «neighbors» not only matching in color, but also preferring the same soil structure. Junipers and other conifers, barberries, roses and cereals will be ideal companions for thuja.

They willingly create from them beautiful single and group compositions:

• an emerald cone or sphere perfectly copes with the role of a tapeworm on a garden lawn;
• columnar varieties are often used in the form of a reliable, impenetrable, but very beautiful green fence;
• exquisite living borders are grown from dwarf forms;
• in combination with other coniferous or deciduous trees, shrubs or flowering crops, arborvitae become the main elements of a rocky garden and rock garden;
• all thuja species are actively used in topiary art: sculptures of people, animals, fairy-tale characters and various objects are carved from them.

Distance from the fence and buildings

If trees on the site are planted too close to the fence or country houses, this can lead to undesirable consequences.

For instance:

• tall varieties can damage the power lines or interfere with their repair;
• roots can disable underground utilities and violate the integrity of the foundation of the house;
• mature trees can create excess shadow both in their own and in neighboring areas.

In this regard, the minimum distances between garden plantings and various buildings, as well as a dividing fence, are regulated.

In accordance with the norms, thuja trees need to be planted at a distance:

• 1 m from the fence;
• 3-5 m from the house;
• 1.5–2 m from the power line, gas pipe and sewer system.

Video: landing thuj along the fence

Distance between plants

The distance between thuja seedlings can be different. To calculate it, you need to determine the purpose of this planting, and also take into account the characteristics of the variety: the height and diameter of the crown of an adult tree.

Depending on grade

In order for thujas to develop normally and fulfill their decorative function, they need to allocate enough space when landing. Planted too densely, growing trees will compete with each other for sunlight and nutrients in the soil.

Important! It should be remembered: the denser the landing, the faster the arborvitae will close into a solid wall. In this case, pruning is required to regulate the height of the fence so that the plants do not drown each other.

Therefore, when buying thuja seedlings, it is advisable to find out what sizes they will reach not only in height but also in width. For example, dwarf spherical varieties need a distance of 1 m, between medium-tall cone-shaped thuja, a distance of about 1.5-2 m will be needed, and it is better to allocate up to 5 m between large trees with a wide crown.

For hedges

Thujas are planted denser to create a hedge than for other purposes. Typically, the distance between the seedlings should be approximately half the diameter of the crown of an adult tree. But at the same time, one must take into account the growth rate of the selected variety, the planned height of the green fence, and whether it will be freely growing or formed by pruning.

Given these points, the distance between the seedlings in the hedge is as follows:

• for slowly growing western varieties - 50-60 cm;
• for fast-growing folded thuja - 70–90 cm;
• for free-growing trees without pruning - 100-120 cm.

Video: how to plant a hedge

In compositions and group landings

Tui belong to slow-growing crops. The average annual growth in height is up to 30 cm, and in width - up to 10 cm. It will take several years to get the planned landscape, composition or figure. Therefore, when planting young trees according to your plan, you should leave as much space as plants need when they grow.

You also need to leave free space for yourself, so that it is convenient to cut the trees, giving them the desired shape. For example: the base of the adult thuja Brabant is about 1.5 m, therefore, the distance in a group landing should be about 1 m. An empty section will be enough for the crown to grow in breadth and for trimming it. For larger varieties, a distance of 1.5 m or more is required.

Landing patterns

Planting scheme depends on the imagination of the gardener and varieties of thuja.

Did you know? Thuja essential oil contains many useful substances, including vitamin C. Without knowing this, the American Indians successfully treated scurvy with thuja leaves.

For hedges, you can use the following schemes:

• 1 row landing: distance to the fence - 1 m, the distance between seedlings - 50–70 cm;
• landing in 2 rows (thicker, invisible): to the fence - 1 m, between rows - 1 m, between plants planted in a checkerboard pattern - 50–70 cm.

If the green fence has a purely decorative purpose, then between the conical or ovoid thuja you can plant a spherical variety, adhering to an interval of at least 1 m.

Follow-up care

Adult thuja are completely undemanding in care, so growing them is easy. They withstand severe frosts and intense heat, as well as polluted city air. But young plants are very vulnerable. Therefore, at first they need special attention.

Watering

Thuja loves moderate humidity. In the first two years after planting, the tree is especially sensitive to drought. Therefore, regular watering during this period plays an important role in the development of the plant. Watering is necessary weekly, pouring at least 1 bucket of water under each seedling.

Important! Yellowed needles indicate a lack of moisture. And with regular drying, the thuja can crumble, and even die.

Weather conditions should also be taken into account: in the heat it will be necessary to water more often, in wet weather - less often. Young trees like sprinkling, which alternates weekly with watering under the root. Both procedures are performed in the evening when it is not hot.

Video: the impact of watering on thuja

Shelter from the sun

Almost all thuja are sun-loving and plant them in open areas. But after planting, the plants are very weak and can suffer from the burning rays of the sun. To protect the future hedge from burns, it is advisable to prune seedlings in the first summer. You can construct a sunshade for this purpose: put arcs and pull the covering material, but make sure that this hut does not come into contact with the needles.

Pruning

Thuja can be cut only in the third year after planting a seedling in the ground. Sanitary pruning is done in early spring. It is necessary for plant health. At the same time, dry, damaged and diseased branches are removed. Many thuja varieties, for example, Smaragd, maintain the neat, natural shape of a cone or ball throughout their lives and do not need formative pruning.Other varieties thicken with age and become shapeless without cutting. Give contours and regularly maintain them in plants growing in hedges and group compositions. Slow-growing species are enough to cut once a year, in the spring. Fast-growing varieties overgrow faster, they can be cut in August.

Did you know? Unlike many trees whose wood deteriorates after 40-50 years, folded thuja wood retains excellent quality for centuries.

At the same time, only young shoots are shortened, no more than a third. Planting thuja plants at a rational distance from each other contributes to their normal growth and facilitates further care for them. Thanks to this, these elegant trees will ennoble the garden plot for many years.