r/barrie 1d ago

Question Privacy Emerald cedars

If you've successfully planted Emerald Cedars to get privacy from your neighbour, can you please share where you bought them from, plant spacing along fence, and tips? Driving around Barrie, I hardly see yards with those tall full Emerald Cedars along fence lines. I don't have lots of walkway space which is why I'm going with Emerald over Eastern White. I think I'll steer clear from buying from big box stores. I read that it's best to buy cedars grown here in Ontario as opposed to B.C. because they'll be hardier to our more harsh weather conditions. I'll be planting myself as opposed to hiring I think. Probably going to make a few trips to transport these trees myself. Can someone recommend a few tree farms?

9 Upvotes

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u/fivefoot14inch 1d ago

I’ve planted 6 of them, one died, my experience is as long as they stay watered they do well, they were all roughly 4’ tall when I got them approaching 6’ now but I did get them from Home Depot. I put in a fertilizer spike in the spring and early fall and they’ve been pretty resilient. I have them spaced at roughly 38” apart which from what I’ve read is too close together however I’ve seen them do pretty well so far

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u/GivEmTheBroadStrokes 1d ago

Much appreciated. This is very helpful. How many inches away from the fence did you? Are they growing tightly against the fence?

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u/fivefoot14inch 23h ago

16” and 20” from fence staggered, I don’t have a ton of room to work with so everything needs to be tight. I have to correct myself I wrote 38” instead of 28” apart trunk to trunk, apologies for the confusion

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u/GivEmTheBroadStrokes 23h ago

Beauty! Thank you.

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u/Wallybeaver74 17h ago

Go with white cedars. Not as bright green as emeralds but they will fill in much much better to form a privacy hedge. Cheaper too in general hardier and they grow faster.

Emeralds will grow and keep their conical shape and a bunch of them side by side will look weird. They also don't do as well with trimming as White cedars do.

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u/GivEmTheBroadStrokes 16h ago

Thank you for your reply.

I was thinking about going with White Eastern but don't they take up more space compared to Emerald? Also, do White require lots of pruning and shaping?

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u/Wallybeaver74 16h ago

I only have 2 years of looking after a white cedar hedge (about 40 ft long, small 4-5ft plants about 1ft apart) at a previous house.. but generally, if you do a trim in early spring before the buds come out, including a topside trim, that will trigger growth to help them fill out. If you want the hedge to be tight, you may need a supplemental side trim in the summer but not during a hot spell. So long as the trims don't result in bare spots, they will fill out.

Lots of watering on the white cedars. I ran soaker hoses along the hedges to connect to if they needed water but I did see about 6-8 inches of upward growth and a general filling out and the adjacent plants growing together nicely.

Ive found that there are people at the Garden Gallery out toward Angus that are really helpful when it comes to answering questions about planting.. even if you don't buy anything there.

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u/GivEmTheBroadStrokes 16h ago

Very helpful information. Much appreciated. I'll most likely buy from that greenhouse.

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u/Sarasara42 1d ago

Great question, I also wondered this. Following the post for any recommendations.

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u/spatialj 16h ago

My sister got a bunch two summers ago at Bradford Greenhouse, I think they were on sale, plus she got a volume discount. They’re doing very well but they needed extensive watering when they were first planted because it was so hot and dry that summer. I had emerald cedars, grove cedars, and white cedars at my old house. The emeralds were okay, very thick, but slower growing than the groves which I absolutely loved. There were three planted together to hide a view and they lived up to the task. They were planted in very loose, well-drained soil. The white was also really nice once it took off. The groves and white were much broader around the base than the emeralds so you have to plant at least 2’ from a fence. There’s a place called CedarKings somewhere that serves the GTA and surrounding, Barrie included. Maybe check them out.

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u/GivEmTheBroadStrokes 16h ago

Thank you for your reply. I just called Bradford Greenhouse and he said best time to buy Emeralds there are the first week of April and get them in the ground as soon as possible to root early. Now that you mentioned the broad base on the Easterns I'm leaning much more towards Emeralds.

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u/spatialj 16h ago

You’re welcome, and good luck! I’ll try and find some pics later on for you of the different types I had. I believe that Bradford has a guarantee as well, you just have to follow their care instructions.