Arborvitae in Containers Long Term?

We often get the question from our audience. Usually it comes from property owners who may want to sell in the not too distant future or folks who have an easement on their property or live in the city or need privacy for a pool.

We observed growing plants in containers for the long haul is primarily out of necessity or hobby. The necessity is when the soil conditions would not support production of a certain plant because the soil PH is very different from the plant’s requirement. For example blueberries have just about no tolerance for alkaline soil and are generally grown in containers in Mexico and Peru. Massive fields of thousands of Acres with pots lined up. Another example are the Bonsai enthusiasts who manage trees in pots for decades.

There is an underlying equation in nature about the size of a plant and the root mass of a tree. A tree will continue to grow until the end of its life, although much slower growth rate as it ages. To accommodate the continuous growth of the tree, it has to be pruned back to about the same size each year. It is also a good idea to prune the roots as well and change the soil in the pots yearly or every other year.

In conclusion: it is possible to grow even the Green Giant Arborvitae in large pots (30+ Gallons), but there is a need to prune the foliage and the roots, so the tree will not outgrow the container.