Big Box Retail Emerald Green Arborvitae Spring 2024

Lexington, Kentucky big box retailer. Emerald Green Arborvitae, Product of Canada. In a 7 Gallon container. Very attractive price at $59.98. The base of the trees are around 3”.

I challenge anybody who thinks this is a great deal to go out in a yard and look for a 3” diameter tree. Find several of them and it won’t take long to realize these are really big trees. Imagine removing these trees and putting them into 7 Gallon containers.

Not possible for a slow growing big tree like the Green Giant Arborvitae to survive without roots. The tree will die for lack of water starvation, from the shock of losing most of its roots.

Mass produce low cost field grown trees from Canada with big roots are too heavy for Kentucky sales. They are too heavy for the trucks and also for the big box stores. So they sell big trees with little roots which are certain to die.

Always look at the trunk size of the tree and ask yourself if it looks realistic. A big trunk tree will have pretty big roots or it probably won’t make it.