Emerald Green Thuja or Thuja Green Giant for privacy screen (spider, growing)

[EmBee]

We're thinking of planting some trees along our fence line to provide some privacy from our neighbor's 2nd story view to our backyard/patio area. We like the Thuja or Arborvitae variety due to its shape (tall and relatively small footprint and dripline) and robustness.

It seems the Thuja Green Giant is better suited for our region 8 and faster growing compared to the Emerald Green. However the mature footprint and height worries us as we don't want to overcrowd our yard and have too much of a shadow cast on our yard by being too tall. The mature width of the Emerald is 3-4' as oppose to 5-8' if planted in a row, while the height is 12' versus 20'. Are these accurate measurements or will they be less in width and height if planted closer together in a row? Also what is the expected time line to achieve 12' height for both variety.

We're open to any other tree variety recommendations.

[trlhiker]

I got some thuja green giants and after 5 years they are now from 7 to 10 feet tall and that was with 2 years of drought thrown in. They started at 1 foot tall.

[EmBee]

Originally Posted by trlhiker

I got some thuja green giants and after 5 years they are now from 7 to 10 feet tall and that was with 2 years of drought thrown in. They started at 1 foot tall.

Did you plant them in a row? If so, how far apart did you plant them and how wide is the base of the tree now at 10' tall? Any bugs/spider problems?

[Tarheel22]

I planted mine 6 feet apart and they were 3 ft. tall (3 years ago)....they are now 8 feet tall, but still only 3ft. in diameter. For a screen, plant 4 feet apart.