Green Screen

The other day it started raining, and Joe got off work early. He stopped by Lowe's and saw their 6ft arborvitae were on sale marked down to $25 from their usual $42. I came home to find this in the side yard.


Their purpose was clear, to add to the level of privacy and screen between our bedroom windows and the neighbors driveway/patio area. So I got to work. First things first, I read that arborvitae can dry out very quickly, and its best to give the whole tree a nice misting of water. I obliged.

Then I started to dig. I really want these shrubs to survive, so I did something I never do. I measured to see how big of a hole I needed to make. With a tape measure even!
This many

by this many

Once I got the hole big enough (I even measured again!) it was time to get the arborvitae in place.

Uhm, but these things are mega heavy. And really hard to get out of their big plastic pots by myself. Really hard. But a little water from the hose (okay, a lot of water) to fully drench the toppled over arborvitae went a long way to slip the plastic pot off.

In the ground nice and secure. Whenever you transplant, you need to make sure you have the soil in tightly and give the plant a deep watering. You want the roots to expand into the new soil and do what they do, support the plant! I was pretty obsessive with watering the arborvitae daily for the first 2 weeks. It is a must if you want the plant to survive.

Getting the in line to create our green screen.

Ruby was a big help!


Arborvitae are slow growing evergreens, but they have already done a lot in providing additional privacy between us and the neighbors. I can't even tell you the last time I noticed them over there! (Hmm, maybe we should check on them...)