How Much Work Is Required to Care for Green Giant Thujas and Other Privacy Conifers?

Privacy evergreens are virtually carefree, although it is still important to consider that there is some minimal care involved in the first 3 years. Here is my attempt to guide expectations of chores involved:

Watering should definitely be done by drip line or soaker hose on an auto timer. But checking on them every few days may add up to a couple of hours a season, May to November.
Fertilizing should be done 4x a year or some other similar frequency, may add to 1 hour a season.
Managing weeds: mulching and weed eating or weed pulling is encouraged. Use caution with weed killers as the wind can and will carry them. May add to 10 hours a season.
Pruning or shearing, not really needed unless you want your trees to grow thicker or in a specific way.

In essence the hours involved for new tree planting may be similar to what caring for the lawn involves. However watering and weed eating will become less important and relevant in years 2 to 3, as the trees grow larger. Should nobody pay attention to them at all after year 3, the trees would most likely be fine.

Trees often suffer when they are overtaken by weeds or other plants. The most established weeds around the newly planted trees will outcompete the plantings. Only a fraction of the intended water and fertilizer if any will reach the new trees. As they become less attractive, they are often abandoned completely.

Weeds can easily reach 4-5’ in just a few weeks and overtake new plantings