Plant Image Data Base                                         

    Thuja occidentalis

                           American Arborvitae or Eastern Arborvitae                                                                                   

• Form
  • medium- to large-sized evergreen shrub
  • to 20' tall by 8' wide but often smaller, depending upon cultivar
  • upright pyramidal or upright columnar (sometimes globed) growth habit
  • slow growth rate
• Culture
  • full sun to partial sun
  • prefers a moist, well-drained, average soil, but tolerates poor, rocky, clay, dry soils extremely well and is very urban tolerant to heat and pollution
• Foliage
  • sprays of scale-like dark green leaves are evergreen and held tightly to the stems
  • old foliage from the interior of the shrub abscises in Autumn, and the more recent foliage may turn to an unattractive yellow or brown in the cold of Winter (especially on some of the older cultivars) but thankfully turns back to dark green by late March

• Function
  • foundation, hedge, entranceway, privacy screen, non-thorny barrier, or specimen shrub, often overused due to its durability
• Assets
  • a very urban-tolerant evergreen shrub that slowly but consistently establishes in the landscape
  • responds well to continuous shearing or light pruning, although rarely needed
  • foliages to the ground, even at maturity
• Purpose
  • American Arborvitae is a commonly utilized evergreen shrub, often found as a focal point, at entranceways, at the corners of foundations, or as a privacy screen.
• Summary
  • Thuja occidentalis is a common evergreen shrub, being pyramidal, upright oval, or globed in shape, useful in many urban stress situations where a low-maintenance, evergreen shrub is required.

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