Thuja Occidentalis Trees

Thuja Occidentalis Trees

Thuja Occidentalis is commonly known as white cedar. This slow-growing tree reaches 25 to 40 feet in height and spreads to about 10 to 12 feet wide, preferring a wet or moist, rich soil. Transplanting is moderately easy if plants are root-pruned and either balled and burlapped or potted.

White-Cedar likes high humidity and tolerates wet soils and some drought. The foliage turns brownish in winter, especially on cultivars with colored foliage and on exposed sites open to the wind.

Best used as a screen or hedge planted on 8 to 10-foot-centers. There are better specimen plants but it can be placed at the corner of a building or other area to soften a view.

Many of the natural stands in the United States have been cut. Some remain in isolated areas along rivers throughout the East. White-Cedar has given rise to many cultivars, many of which are shrubs. Cultivars include: ‘Booth Globe’ – low, rounded with a flat top; ‘Compacta’ –dense and compact; ‘Compacta Erecta’ – semi-dwarf,
pyramidal; ‘Douglasi Pyramidalis’ – dense, columnar; ‘Emerald Green’ – good winter color; ‘Ericoides’ – dwarf, brownish foliage in winter; ‘Fastigiata’ –narrow, columnar; ‘Globosa’ – dense, rounded; ‘Hetz Junior’ – dwarf, wider than it is tall; ‘Hetz Midget’ –slow grower, quite dwarf, rounded; ‘Hovey’ – low and rounded; ‘Little Champion’ – globe shaped; ‘Lutea’ –yellow foliage; ‘Nigra’ – dark green foliage in winter, pyramidal; ‘Pumila’ (Little Gem) – rounded, dwarf; ‘Pyramidalis’ – narrow pyramidal form; ‘Rheingold’ – rounded form with yellow to bronze new growth.

Thuja Occidentalis Fruit characteristics

It does not attract wildlife; inconspicuous and not showy; no significant litter problem; persistent on the tree.

How to take care Thuja Occidentalis Trees

• Light requirement:

  tree grows in part shade/part sun;
  tree grows in full sun

• Soil tolerances:

  clay; loam; sand; slightly alkaline;
  acidic; extended flooding; well-drained

• Drought tolerance:

  moderate

• Aerosol salt tolerance: 
  

  low

• Soil salt tolerance:

  moderate