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Hi,
I am trying to find out about the heat tolerance of different evergreen tower-like plants, but only the frost-tolerance (USDA zone) is listed.
I have planted 4 thuja emerald plants in a location that gets 12 hour sun in Northern California (South San Jose). One dies the second year around September in the hottest time of the year. Another one died next year September. I am left with 2, that will probably also die.
I am looking for a replacement plant that looks similar (slander, green), but I cannot find any HEAT TOLERANCE COMPARISON.
Does any one have such data?
Plants I have considered so far:
- thuja emerald (emerald green arborvitae)
- tiny tower dwarf Italian cyress
- sky pencil holly
- Christmas tree rosemary
- skyrocket juniper
- dwarf Alberta spruce
- any other???
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I had good luck with most of those and more in a similar climate (Castro Valley) but they do need to be watered regularly for at least the first two summers. After that they are drought tolerant, once their roots have gone down deep into the ground.
One Italian Cypress is now 20 feet tall, and a juniper I planted in 1978 is higher than the roof of that house.
Try the Sloat (formerly Navlet's) in Danville, they have always had very knowledgeable staff there to help choose the right plants/trees. We still buy there when in the Bay Area and bring things back.
In my experience in Albuquerque, NM, Thuja do well provided they get adequate water and can tolerate a range of temps from single digits up to at least a short season of daily highs above 95-105+ or so.
Some people mistakenly consider them drought tolerant, but I think they are simply well adapted to thin, infertile soil that dries quickly, but actually require frequent, if not deep waterings. A neglected Thuja will show poorly with browning and die off that takes a long time to recover and looks very poor. They'll live through tough times, though.
Most people plant Thuja in locations where half a day they are in shade of a tree of a house. My planting location is on full sun all day. It receives 30min drip irrigation daily during the summer.
Now one of them is completely brown, the other 2 survivors are 95% green.
Last summer, in September on the hottest day in my area I saw 112F.
I say go with juniper. Spiky but very resilient. With other trees your water bill will be sky high. Though maybe you are on a well, I don't know.
Don't forget cypress is top heavy and roots shallow. Strong winds topple them. Also, they are pain to trim, unless you don't care and let them grow.
Either the rosemary or juniper (or both) should be suitable for the growing and temperature conditions in your area. They're heat and drought resistant at the height of summer and both species will put down a sturdy, deep root system.
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