How to Grow and Care for Arborvitaes

Northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) is a small- to medium-sized evergreen conifer native to North America, and can be found in a variety of environments, including forested wetlands and along cliffs. Essential oils are produced using northern white cedar, and it also finds use as an ornamental plant. Due to its increasing popularity in landscaping, more compact plants have been used to develop smaller strains.

Western red cedar (Thuja plicata) is a cedar tree species native to the western United States. Despite its name, the western red cedar is not considered a true cedar. Instead, it belongs to the Cypress family. This species is commercially used to make decks, siding, and the soundboards of guitars.

It is a medium-sized tree, reaching 20 to 35 m tall and with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The foliage forms in flat sprays with scale-like leaves 2 to 4 mm long, matte green above, and with narrow white stomatal bands below. The cones are oval, yellow-green ripening red-brown, 6 to 12 mm long and 4 to 5 mm broad (opening to 8 mm broad), with 6–10 overlapping scales.

Thuja koraiensis, also called Korean arborvitae, is a species of Thuja, native to Korea and the extreme northeast of China (Changbaishan). Its current status is poorly known; the small population in China is protected in the Changbaishan Nature Reserve, as is the small population in Soraksan Nature Reserve in northern South Korea, but most of the species' range in North Korea is unprotected and threatened by habitat loss. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 3–10 m tall. The foliage forms flat sprays with scale-like leaves 2–4 mm long (up to 15 mm long on strong-growing shoots), matt dark green above, and with broad, vivid white stomatal wax bands below. The cones are oval, yellow-green ripening red-brown, 7–11 mm long and 4–5 mm broad (opening to 6–9 mm broad), with 8-12 overlapping scales. It is occasionally grown as an ornamental tree for the contrast between the green upper and bright white lower sides of the foliage, though planting is limited by the low availability of seeds.

The western red cedar 'Fluffy' is a miniature of its parent, reaching only 1.5 to 3 m versus the37 to 46 m height of the standard western red cedar. With cheerful year-round golden-green foliage, these dwarf cedars have a pyramid shape with fluffy foliage. This tree-of-life is a low maintenance sun-lover, perfect for hedges and being surrounded by flowers to compliment its golden coloring.