Dwarf Arborvitae Spacing

[Lou Leciejewski]

I am planning a small border of 2 Holmstrup Eastern Arborvitae (Dwarf Arborvitae that gets only 6 feet tall) and 2 Rose Of Sharons. I want to alternate the Arborvitaes and the Rose Of Sharons and I'd like to plant them

3 (on center) apart. Has anyone tried this plan with alternating Rose Of Sharons and dwarf Arborvitae like Holmstrup? Since they say the Holmstrup Arborvitaes get 2 to 3 feet wide I am thinking that 3 foot centers would work good. I do plan to trim the Rose Of Sharons (in Fall I would think) as I know they can get as big as you let them!

Thanks in advance for any opinions or advice.

Lou

[brooklyn1]

I detest rose of sharon, it drops tons of seeds and sprouts up everywhere... but I know some love them... anyway a hedge of evergreen alternating with deciduous will look just awful, like something a retarded landscaper did. Choose one or the other... I vote for arborvitae... before rose of sharon I'd rather a trellis covered with poison ivy

[Phisherman]

Don't like the idea alternating evergreen with deciduous. It probably would not look good and these plants will require a different kind of maintenance. My ROS are now in full bloom, drawing in hundreds of butterflies, bees, and hummers. I planted my ROS about 24" apart and they have filled inbetween over the years making a very nice summer privacy hedge. My hedge is about 90 feet long, 14 feet high, trimmed back to 10 feet once a year.

[jeff]

I don't think there is such a thing as just two Rose of Sharons.

I have a lot of them here and getting rid of them where I don't want them is not always successful. I have some intertwined in a rather large border hedge, I trim it just like a hedge and the flowers go with it. I don't consider it successful. In fact my favorite Rose of Sharon is one that is in a patio and is more less untrimmed, I like it much better than the trimmed rows of them.

Jeff

[mleblanca]

Then you are missing out on a beautiful plant. Not all ROS behave that way. I have a single white with a red center, Red Heart. It never produces seeds or seedlings. I have had it for over 20 years. The hummingbirds love it!

Emilie NorCa

[brooklyn1]

The neighbor behind me where I lived previously had four of those gross mutant things planted right up against my 6' stockade fence... never pruned, they got like 12' tall and overhung into my yard, dropping tons of those awful seeds that did their best to ruin my lawn, and all my flower beds on my side of my fence. After five years of pleading very nicely for him to prune one day I had enough of his spite work (I put the stockade fence up because the miserable creep would start up like four really old lawn mowers and just let them run unattended so it was two noisy to sit outdoors). It was early spring and those monsters were just ready to bud out when I GLEEFULLY gave them a good shower of Round Up... put an end to the whole miserable affair. He never ran his lawn mowers again.