Illustration
Arborvitae
Thuja occidentalis
Also called white cedar, arbor vitae and eastern white cedar
Arborvitae is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Arborvitae
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 3–8. Expect it to reach about 20 ft tall and 5 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 12 years (not yet checked).
What was checked
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant. The bloom months and water need on this page were not, and each fact above says which. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Arborvitae
Plant Arborvitae 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 Arborvitae get?
20 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult5 ftwideSee Arborvitae 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 Arborvitae
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Space Arborvitae about 5 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.
Add Arborvitae to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Arborvitae's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags were checked against 12 published sources on July 29, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- Missouri Botanical Gardenheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- The Morton Arboretumheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- trees.umn.eduUniversity of Minnesota Treesheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- Oregon State UniversityLandscape Plantsheight, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- Purdue ArboretumExplorerheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- Chicago Botanic Gardenheight, hardiness zones and sun
- homegarden.cahnr.uconn.eduUConn Home & Garden Education Centerheight, hardiness zones and sun
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centerheight, sun and trait tags
- ndsu.eduNDSU Extensionheight, hardiness zones and sun
- Penn State Extensionheight, sun and trait tags
- srs.fs.usda.govUSDA Forest Service, Silvics of North Americaheight
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Comes in 9 varieties
Same genus, similar care - pick the variety you are growing.
Compare every variety in the Arborvitae group
Every figure is the variety's own page fact. Tap a name to open it.
| Variety | Color | Blooms | Hardiness | Sun | Size (H × W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arborvitaethis page | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 3–8 | Full sun | 20 ft × 5 ft |
| Danica | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 3–8 | Full sun | 24 in × 24 in |
| DeGroot's Spire | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 3–8 | Full sun | 15 ft × 3.5 ft |
| Emerald Green | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 3–8 | Full sun | 13 ft × 4 ft |
| Fire Chief | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 5–8 | Full sun | 4 ft × 4 ft |
| Golden Globe | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 3–8 | Full sun | 4 ft × 4 ft |
| Green Giant | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 5–8 | Full sun | 39 ft × 13 ft |
| Holmstrup | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 3–8 | Full sun | 10 ft × 3.5 ft |
| Rheingold | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 3–8 | Full sun | 5 ft × 4 ft |
| Techny | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 3–7 | Full sun | 15 ft × 6.5 ft |
Good to know about Arborvitae
Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note. A note reports what its source says; where that differs from a fact above, the fact above is this entry's stored value, and its mark says whether it has been checked.
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
Worth knowing
The narrow, upright form that makes arborvitae a tidy privacy screen is the same trait that lets heavy wet snow splay the stems apart and bend or break them. per NC State
Is arborvitae deer-resistant?
Eastern white-cedar, the species you buy here, is deer candy. Western 'Green Giant' hybrids are largely ignored, so retailer 'deer-resistant arborvitae' usually means Green Giant, not this one. per Michigan State
Winter browning, four causes
Browning can be harmless seasonal bronzing, winter burn, leafminer mines, or spider-mite bronzing. Each has a different fix, so diagnose the cause before you treat or spray. per NC State and Wisconsin
Wet-soil paradox
It grows wild in swamps yet rots in a poorly drained bed. The difference is drainage: wetland soil moves water and oxygen, a waterlogged bed invites Phytophthora root rot. per NC State and Penn State
Bagworms can kill it
Bagworm caterpillars build spindle-shaped silk bags often mistaken for cones, and can defoliate and kill a plant. Eggs overwinter in the bag and hatch late spring to early summer. per University of Kentucky
What pairs well with Arborvitae
Good companions share its growing conditions and add something it lacks: an earlier or later bloom, a lower carpet in front, or structure through winter.
Garden Phlox
Shares full sun and moderate water; shorter at 3.5 ft, an understory layer; both are North American natives.
Obedient Plant
Shares full sun and moderate water; shorter at 3.5 ft, an understory layer; both are North American natives.
Bee Balm
Shares full sun and moderate water; low at 3 ft, to carpet the ground beneath it; both are North American natives.
Ninebark
Shares full sun and moderate water; shorter at 6.5 ft, an understory layer; both are North American natives.
Winterberry
Shares full sun and moderate to high water; shorter at 6.5 ft, an understory layer; both are North American natives.
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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.