Green Giant Arborvitae
Thuja plicata x standishii
A fast, dense, narrow-pyramidal arborvitae widely planted as a disease-free stand-in for Leyland cypress, with dark green foliage that doesn't yellow in winter, quick to make a screen or windbreak. It grows big, so give it room or prune young plants as a hedge. Light afternoon shade helps where summers are hot.
- Mature size
- 50 × 15 ft
- 15 × 4.5 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–8b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to full shade
- Water
- Dry to moist
Green Giant Arborvitae at its mature size
A mature Green Giant Arborvitae grows 40 to 60 feet tall and 12 to 18 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: Missouri Botanical Garden.
Through the year
What Green Giant Arborvitae looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Year-round
Dense glossy rich green foliage sprays.
Growing Green Giant Arborvitae
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Good for
- Privacy screen, hedge, specimen, shade garden, drought tolerant, deer resistant, and fast growing
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Western North America and Japan
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Green Giant Arborvitae, that’s about 15 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 Green Giant Arborvitae in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other arborvitaes
Arborvitae
Emerald Green ArborvitaeGreen Giant ArborvitaeAll drawn to the same scale.