Arborvitae Trees

Arborvitae trees are favorite landscaping plants among contractors. These trees are known for their deep color leaves. These trees are grown as shrubs or trees in Canada as well as United States. These trees need very little pruning as they will not regrow the part that has been removed. These are evergreen trees that belong to the cypress family. In the following paragraphs, we shall learn a bit about these trees and their types.

Arborvitae Trees Information
These trees are evergreen trees that have soft to touch scaly leaves. These trees are more fond of cold regions than warmer regions. These trees are a favorite food for many animal species like the deer during winter. Arborvitae trees have a really dense canopy that helps provide cover for many birds and mammals. These are coniferous trees whose taxonomical name is Thuja occidentalis. The arborvitae is a Latin term that means tree of life. These trees can live for centuries and are a symbol of strength. There are five types of arborvitae trees. These five types are as follows:

• Korean Thuja - Thuja koraiensis
• Eastern Arborvitae, Northern White cedar - Thuja occidentalis
• Western Red Cedar - Thuja plicata
• Japanese Thuja - Thuja standishii
• Sichuan Thuja - Thuja sutchuenensis

They grow about 10 to 60 feet in length. They have a reddish-brown bark, flat shoots and scale like leaves. These scale like leaves are arranged in alternative decussate pairs on the twigs in four rows. As these are conifers, they develop solitary flowers. They have pollen cones that contain 2 to 4 pollen sacs.

Arborvitae trees planting is generally carried out in moist soil that is well-drained. They are usually drought resistant trees who need alkaline soil pH for healthy growth. You can even add aluminum sulfate to the soil when carrying out planting. The most important part of their care is the pruning. These trees naturally maintain their borders neat and even. However, pruning slightly will help keep the trees healthy. The lower branches will receive more sunlight that will make them grow more. You just need to cut the weak limbs, closely spaced branches, limbs that grow inwards, etc. A young arborvitae tree recovers better than one that is large. If you begin pruning on a young tree, you can soon have it grow in a certain shape. Thus, it will require very little pruning in future.

Problems
There are certain problems that will lead to arborvitae trees dying. If you have a complain of arborvitae trees turning brown, then it may be due to a number of environmental stress. The trees turning brown may be due to drought conditions. The trees prefer moisture in the air and soil. When this is not available, trees turn brown. Other reasons of the leaves turning yellow and brown may include the freeze and thaw cycles. The plant may be under stress and suffer from tissue damage due to freezing. When the top foliage is exposed to the sun, it cannot immediately take up moisture from the roots. This causes damage and the leaves turning yellow or brown is an indication of dying trees. Arborvitae trees dying within one year of planting indicate the root ball dries out. This is because the root ball takes about a year to grow out of the root ball into the soil and find moisture. Therefore you need to grow the sapling in a dense clay soil. This is especially true for balled and burlapped trees. Water the plant thoroughly so that the root balls do not dry out. Aphids may cause the leavesturning yellow and brown. Other pests like spider mites, bagworms, scale insects, and fungal diseases may cause leaves turning brown or yellow.

Uses
There are quite a few arborvitae trees uses. They are generally used for gardening purposes like ornamental trees and hedges. They are usually grown as privacy trees in homes. The wood is very light, soft and aromatic. It is resistant to decay and can be used to make chests, fence poles and rails.

This was some information related to arborvitae trees. You can grow these trees as hedge plants in your garden and get some privacy from your neighbors. These trees have a really long life and will add some interest to your garden for many years to come.