Why Are There So Much Incorrect Information On The Web About Arborvitae and Cypress?

As an example, let’s mention Emerald Green Arborvitae, the only Arborvitae which we do not recommend, yet it is probably the only one most Americans can recall.

Most content creators draw from secondary sources. Most successful specialists are not in the content creation business and will be reluctant to share their knowledge as it is often the fountain of their prosperity. Most nurseries do 95% of the same, but they view the 5% proprietary ingredient as essential to their success

Consumer education is very expensive, probably even borderline impossible. It will frustrate consumers and may lead them to a variety of unpredictable conclusions.

Consumers have many questions and there is an expectation that most have a ‘True’ or ‘False’ answer then most questions will have a qualifier in the response of “Depends on various conditions’.

Correcting other people’s mistaken information is not profitable: it may upset people who present the wrong information. It may even upset people who in our example believe that Emerald Green Arborvitae are a good variety.

Market participants’ behavior who benefit from the way things are. Costco, Home Depot’ etc. are high end retailers with superb selection. They were making a huge push for Emerald Green a couple of years ago. Industry rumors said a big grower was stuck on a huge inventory and they unloaded it through these retailers. Retailers often allow brokers to manage the highly seasonal areas of the store not viewed as critical and while we have many friends in the broker community, they are generally focused on short term profitability.

It is also probably true that most articles presented on the web will include some objective truth as well as some objective wrongs and purebred ‘right’ and purebread ’wrong’ articles as few and far between.

In summary, when making long term decisions such as selecting a row of privacy trees for your home, doing your own research makes sense as is spending time chatting with an experienced plant person in your family or a nurseryman.

A row of Emerald Green Arborvitae in Lexington, Kentucky