DeGroot's Spire (Thuja occidentalis 'DeGroot's Spire') - foliage plant, illustrated plant cardIllustration

DeGroot's Spire

Thuja occidentalis 'DeGroot's Spire'

DeGroot's Spire is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.

Bloom time
Foliage plant
not yet checked
Hardiness
Zones 3–8
not yet checked
Sun
Full sun
not yet checked
Water
Moderate water
not yet checked
Mature size
15 ft × 3.5 ft
not yet checked
Type
Conifer
house classification

Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.

Growing DeGroot's Spire

Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 3–8. Expect it to reach about 15 ft tall and 3.5 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 12 years (not yet checked).

Verification
What this means

Written with AI assistance and not yet checked plant by plant against recorded sources, so treat every fact above as a starting point. Its scientific name was checked against botanical registries, an audit keeps its values consistent with the rest of the library, and a July 2026 review re-read the main facts of every plant then in the library against horticultural authorities without recording a source for each, which is why none of that counts as checked here. The source-by-source check is working through the whole library in the open, and a checked plant says so in this row.

When to plant DeGroot's Spire

Plant DeGroot's Spire in spring once the soil is workable, or by very early fall at the latest: an evergreen needs its roots down well before the ground freezes. In zone 5, the middle of its hardy zones 3 to 8, that is April to June, or August on the fall side.

Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 5, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 5 in April. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.

How big does DeGroot's Spire get?

Illustration of DeGroot's Spire drawn to scale beside an adult15 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult3.5 ftwide
About 15 ft tall and 3.5 ft wide at maturity: about three times as tall as an adult.

See DeGroot's Spire in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.

How far apart to plant DeGroot's Spire

Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.

Space DeGroot's Spire about 3.5 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.

Plant them
3.5 ft apart
Per 10 sq ft
one needs about 12 sq ft
4 by 8 ft bed
about 2

Add DeGroot's Spire to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.

Good to know about DeGroot's Spire

Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note.

Safety

Foliage and oil hold thujone, a convulsant neurotoxin. Small culinary or homeopathic amounts are safe, but concentrated oil or large ingestions can cause convulsions and liver and kidney toxicity. per Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The Arborvitae group

One of 10 in the Arborvitae group. Same genus, similar care.

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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.

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