If you live in Asheville, NC, and are unfamiliar with Emerald Green arborvitae, look out your window at your neighbor’s houses. Chances are somebody in your neighborhood is growing them.
It’s for good reason. They are solid, versatile, easy-to-grow plants; useful for screening, foundations, and defining sections of the landscape. We are fans.
North Pole, a Proven Winners introduction that bills itself as faster growing and more shade tolerant than Emerald Green, had us skeptical at first. The size is about the same as the Emeralds, so why pay more for essentially the same plant?
After growing them for a couple of years, we are sold. We have found them to be better and worth the expense if you can find them. Here are some of the differences that we have noticed:
- Faster growing-this really surprised us, but yes, they are faster.
- Shade tolerant- tough to quantify this one, we have found Emeralds to be fine in some shade also.
- More narrow than Emerald, particularly at the top.
- Darker green foliage, particularly in winter.
Now, both are great plants and very useful for Asheville gardens. We still wouldn’t hesitate to go with Emerald Greens if you have a lot of area to screen or for areas that aren’t so important such as away from the house. Since they are more widely in production, it’s often easier to find them in a range of sizes, particularly larger 15 and 25 gallon pot sizes.
For prime real estate though, we recommend North Pole. The narrow shape, faster growth rate, and shade tolerance make this one a cut above and worth a little extra expense. Once it’s off-patent, we wouldn’t be surprised if the big growers all start growing it instead.
