Everyone’s yard needs the evergreens to form bones and structure of the garden during the winter months. What is my favorite Evergreen you may ask? Unequivocally, I answer, arborvitae is my favorite evergreen plant. The plant’s real name is Thuja and is a native of North America and Asia.
It is one of the easiest plants to grow. They have extremely beautiful foliage that looks almost like a piece of coral. They also come in so many different shapes and sizes from miniature to weeping to very tall variegated and all in between so every garden no matter how small or how large can benefit from these wonderful trees.
The first arborvitae I ever remember seeing was a miniature weeping variety that was wonderful to cut for Christmas decorations. A few years later when I bought my first house I planted a giant arborvitae at the back of the property and used it every year as cuttings at Christmas time. Unlike the overused Leyland cypress that suffers from mites and Japanese cryptomeria, to me, arborvitae have a more beautiful shape, more beautiful color and stay in a better shape as they age.
When my wife and I built our forever home we planted a large hedge of green giant arborvitae between us and our neighbor to provide privacy and noise control. These wonderful plants have the ability to be sculpted, planted as a hedge, or can be planted as a specimen plant. Arborvitae are also readily available at your local garden store or nursery so the next time you need an evergreen for your yard think about an arborvitae. They don’t disappoint.