Emerald Green Arborvitae
Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’ · a narrow evergreen arborvitae
The go-to narrow evergreen for a dense, formal hedge or privacy screen, with naturally thick foliage that holds its emerald green through the coldest winters and needs little pruning. It handles heat and humidity too. It wants loamy, well-drained soil with steady moisture, and it isn't deer resistant.
- Mature size
- 13 × 3.5 ft
- 4 × 1.1 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–7b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Dry to moist
Emerald Green Arborvitae at its mature size
A mature Emerald Green Arborvitae grows 12 to 15 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: InstantHedge, greatgardenplants.com.
Through the year
What Emerald Green Arborvitae looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Year-round
Bright emerald-green flat foliage sprays, holding colour in winter.
Photos
Growing Emerald Green Arborvitae
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Midwest, the Plains and Mountain West, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Privacy screen, hedge, small space, specimen, and drought tolerant
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Eastern and Central Canada and North-Central and Eastern United States
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Emerald Green Arborvitae, that’s about 3.5 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Emerald Green Arborvitae in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other arborvitaes
Arborvitae
Emerald Green Arborvitae
Green Giant ArborvitaeAll drawn to the same scale.