I apologize in advance for the length of this post. Shortly before we purchased our home 3 years ago the previous owner created a privacy hedge from newly planted Arborvitaes (52 in total). We quickly learned that they planted the trees way too close together. I always thought they should be planted no closer than 3 feet. My current research says 4-6 feet. Unfortunately, all of the trees are planted 16-20 INCHES apart. Since we moved in we have had 4 of the trees die and it appears two more are on their way out. Because I know they need air circulation and sunlight I make a point of clearing all the dead branches and foliage twice a year. The problem is because they are so close, the trees are seriously thinner each time we clean them out. I had no idea what variety they actually were when we moved in and I was hoping the previous owner knew something I did not and they were a smaller tree. It doesn’t appear to be the case. I’m guessing they paid a local nursery to create privacy and the nursery just saw a bigger payday with selling the most trees they could without thought to longevity. So now I need to make a decision. I am thinking that the best course of action may be to remove every other tree. We certainly won’t have intended privacy hedge but honestly, the yard is small, neighbors are nice and hopefully if I take care of the trees the remaining trees fill out eventually. That said, I haven’t actually seen arborvitae “fill in” and thicken up. All of the ones I’ve ever seen in our neighborhood loose foliage on lower branches…never to return (But of course I don’t know if the owners realized the need to be cleared out of dead foliage) . I can continue on the current path and fertilized to encourage fuller growth but with all the time and expense it will take to remove every other tree I am wondering if that will even solve the problem, or should we just remove them all and start over. I hate the thought of tearing out any of them…but will doing so salvage the remaining trees…or is it too little too late?
