Living Fences Made Of Coniferous Plants: Spruce And Thuja

Read the previous part. ← Live fences made of coniferous plants: yews, junipers, cypresses

Spruce hedge

Common spruce with a fairly regular, wide-pyramidal arrangement of branches, reaching in nature 30-50 meters in height, tolerates pruning well. Therefore, it can be used for planting in wider and taller living fences. This spruce loves moist, but not constantly oozing nutrient soils that contain lime.

Spruce gray Canadian "Conica". Dwarf conical shape, squat, with an obovate crown. The branches are raised, tightly pressed against each other, thin, light or dark brown. The needles are radial and densely spaced, soft, thin, light green, 3-6 mm long. Height 3-4 meters, crown diameter 2 meters. Annual growth 6–10 cm in height, 3–5 cm in width. In cultivation since 1847, currently cultivated in Estonia and Lithuania.

Gardener's guide

Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios

Used for single landings, in groups, rock gardens. It is decorative due to its regular, conical crown. Poorly tolerates soil compaction and waterlogging.

Thuja hedge

Most often, thuja is used to create living fences. Most of them are extremely hardy plants that tolerate cold well; they take root well even on nutrient-poor soils, if they are moist enough.

Among the thujas there are dwarf plants for a rock garden, as well as excellent trees for single plantings in curbs or on a lawn.

These evergreens can be made into a living fence that can be cut in the spring and re-trimmed at the end of summer. Tiny, scaly leaves are arranged in an opposite direction on the stems, and the side branches lie in the same plane, like a cypress. To distinguish these plants, mash the twig with your fingers: most types of thuja have fragrant leaves. It is even easier to distinguish plants by cones - in thuja they are small and oblong, and in mature cones the scales are bent outward. All thujas need well-drained soil, and species with golden needles also need a sunny place.

Species and varieties: One of the three wild species is the western thuja. She has several excellent dwarf varieties, the first among which belongs to the Rheingold variety. This shrub with a conical crown and dull golden needles reaches a height of one meter in ten years. The “Golden Globe” variety has a compact, round bush with yellow leaves.

The next cultivar, Little Champion, has a spherical crown with green leaves, while Holmstrup has a narrow conical crown.

Thuja western grade "Holmstrup". The shape of the crown is conical. The maximum height is up to 2.5–3 meters, at the age of 15 it reaches 1.5–2 meters, the maximum diameter is 0.8–1 meters. The needles are scaly, dense, dark green. The plant is shade-loving, not demanding on the soil, but prefers fresh, sufficiently moist fertile loams, frost-resistant. Recommended for single and group plantings, from thuja create lower living fences and green walls.

A tall variety of western thuja, "Smaragd", is suitable for a live fence.

Thuja western "Smaragd". Decorative form with a narrow compact pyramidal crown, which is formed by branches directed upwards. Height 4-6 meters, crown diameter 1-1.5 meters. Annual growth is 10 cm in height and 4 cm in width. The crown is narrowly conical, dense, weakly branched. Shoots are located in a vertical plane. The branches are far apart, glossy, bright green in summer and winter. Scaly green needles. Cones are sparse, oblong-ovate, about 1 cm long, brown. It is undemanding to soils, but prefers fertile loams, can tolerate dry soil and excessive moisture. The plant is frost-resistant. Thuja was bred in 1950 in Denmark (Quistchard). Propagated by cuttings (53%). Recommended for group and single plantings, live fence.

The eastern thuja has fan-shaped branches. The dwarf variety "Aurea Nana" is popular with golden yellow needles, which turn bronze-green in winter. An even more colorful variety, Rosedalis, is yellow in spring, pale green in summer, and purple in autumn and winter.

The folded thuja has a tall pyramidal tree for a living fence. The "Zebrina" variety has leaves with a yellow border. This thuja is the only representative of the gigantic thuja family, in the gardens we meet with this very species most often.

It is a thriving tree with a broad, conical shape with striped, creamy yellow-green, slightly sloping shoots. This thuja reaches a height of 10 meters. It is used for a single planting or to create high living fences.

Thuja western variety "Malonyana" especially valuable variety western thuja is distinguished by a slender columnar appearance and reaches a height of 5-10 meters. The dense needles collected in bunches have a constant juicy green color. The plant is suitable for making living fences and taller green walls.

Thuja western "Viridis" is also suitable for tall living fences and green walls. It has a compact pyramidal shape and shiny dark green needles. This plant can be easily shaped to the desired shape. It tolerates regular haircuts well, is unpretentious and frost-resistant. Living fences made of this thuja remain green in winter, they are beautiful and make a good impression. Plants that are not sheared can reach 8 or even 15 meters in adulthood (depending on where they grow).

Read the next part. Living deciduous fences →