The evergreen coniferous plant Thuja Forever Goldy is often used by gardeners and landscape designers to create garden and park compositions, due to its attractive appearance, the ability to combine with other trees and shrubs and unpretentiousness in care. This variety of thuja can grow on different types of soils, and besides, the plant has high frost resistance.

Grade description

Thuja decorative folded Forever Goldy (Thuja Forever Goldy) - an evergreen coniferous tree belonging to the Cypress family. It looks quite compact and neat, so it is often used in landscape design both independently and in combination with other plants.The growth of Forever Goldie is slow, since in a year the growth in height can only increase by 10–20 cm, and in width - up to 5 cm. This tree is very popular due to the bright color of the needles, which remains throughout the year.

An adult tree reaches 2.5 m in height, while its diameter is 1.5 m. It compares favorably with the correct conical shape of the crown with flat branches on which soft, scaly needles are located. It is short and up. The bark is fibrous, with cracks, a reddish-brown hue and a thickness of about 2 cm.

Did you know? An incredible case has been described in the literature, stating that thuja wood, lying in the ground after the death of a tree for more than 1,500 years, remained completely intact and suitable for use.

In summer, the scales have a light green color, but as soon as the temperature begins to drop, around mid-autumn, the needles acquire beautiful yellow, orange, and golden hues. In winter, they mix into a unique gamut of colors, in which there is a combination of bright yellow and orange-ocher. With its crown color and shape, Forever Goldie is very similar to the western thuja Golden Smaragd.

Landing

Thuja Forever Goldie is a fairly unpretentious plant and can grow in completely different conditions, but still you need to know the basic rules for planting it. This will ensure good growth and development, and help make your garden plot irresistible.

Landing time

Thuja is better to plant in spring. The optimal planting time is the beginning of thawing the soil and before the formation of the first shoots. The main thing is that the seedlings have time to take root before the beginning of July.

In autumn, this plant can also be planted, but in this case there may be a risk of freezing or burning of unripe seedlings under the first spring sunshine. The worst time to put a tree in the soil is August.

Video: Features of thuja planting in spring, summer and autumn

Seedling Selection

You need to buy young trees with a lump of land or in special containers so that plants better take root in a new place. If the root system is located above the ground or grows through the ventilation openings in the landing container, such seedlings are not suitable for transshipment, because they have been in this container for a very long time and will most likely not take root in open space.

You need to choose small trees with a well-developed rhizome and a dense crown. If the arborvitae are adult enough, a few months before planting, their roots need to be slightly shortened to better form young shoots.

Site preparation

Thuja Forever Goldie is very fond of sunlight. Thanks to him, she has such a beautiful golden hue. But if the plant will be all day in direct sunlight, this will lead to quick drying of the soil and, as a result, the tree will not look like you would like. Therefore, it is better to choose a place for landing illuminated, but so that the sunlight is diffused. For this, a neighborhood of medium height trees with a not very dense crown will be enough.

Important! Thuja seedlings are worth buying only with a closed root system, because it is very sensitive to drying out.

Variety Forever Goldie is not very whimsical to the choice of soil, so it can grow even on not very fertile soils, but it just doesn’t "like" very high acidity. It is normal for humidity and even a slight swamp, but if in the spring meltwater stagnates for more than two weeks, the plant may die. It is also desirable that the groundwater is deeper than one meter from the surface of the earth.

Thuja is poorly tolerated by drafts, therefore, the landing area should be protected from sharp gusts of wind. The distance between the holes should be observed from three to five meters, so that the grown trees do not interfere with each other's development.

Did you know? The oldest representative of conifers is spruce, which grows in Sweden. Her age is 9500 years.

Step-by-step landing instructions

After you have decided on a place for planting a tree, and picked up suitable quality seedlings, you can start the process itself, which consists of the following steps:

1. Dig a pit for a thuja about 60 cm deep and about one meter in diameter. Dimensions may be different - depending on the volume of the clod of earth around the rhizome. The main requirement - the conglomerate should fit freely in the pit.
2. At the bottom, spread the soil mixed with wood ash.
3. If the soil is too wet and clay, make a drainage of crushed brick or gravel.
4. Position the seedling so that the root of the neck is on the surface of the earth.
5. Mix the earth with peat and sand in equal parts and fill the hole, crushing a little, carefully, so as not to damage the rhizome.
6. Water the hole well so that the earth is compacted and there are no voids left.
7. Mulch the soil around the tree with compost, peat or tree bark for better moisture retention (5–7 cm layer of mulch).

It is advisable that the root zone of the thuja be covered with a layer of mulch throughout the year - this will contribute to better growth and development of the tree. Mulch helps preserve moisture (which is extremely important in dry periods) and nutrients, protects against the appearance of weeds.

Care Features

You need to start caring for the thuja Forever Goldie immediately after planting, so that the trees look healthy and beautiful in both single and group plantings. And although this variety is not capricious in leaving, you must not forget about the proper timely watering, top dressing and pruning. And it is also very important to timely prepare the plant for winter, so that it can winter without problems.

Watering and feeding

After planting, Forever Goldie needs to be watered every week so that the soil does not dry out and the plants are well rooted. And also regularly loosen the topsoil to a depth of 5-7 cm.

The crown of trees will look healthier and more magnificent if it is sprayed once a week with water heated to air temperature. To do this, pour water into barrels or buckets in advance and put them on the site.

It is better to water and irrigate plants early in the morning or in the evening. For watering, one bucket of liquid per week is enough, and in the summer dry period you can increase the number of buckets to three. Thuja can grow on poor soils, but in this case it will look weak, pale. The density of the crown and the brightness of its color, as well as the healthy appearance of the trees, depend on the presence of nutrients in the soil. Therefore, Forever Goldie, of course, needs additional nutrition.

The main fertilizer complex used to grow this variety includes:

• compost, which is added to the soil twice a season - in spring and summer;
• Fertika is a product specially developed for feeding evergreens, which is applied to loose soil with water.

Pruning

The thuja folded Forever Goldie does not need to be trimmed, because it itself looks neat, but if you still cut the branches, the crown will be more dense and magnificent. For the first two years, the tree does not need to be “disturbed” so that it can take root and gain strength properly.

In the third year, it can be cut, observing the following rules:

• the first pruning of the season should be done in April;
• in the summer and before the onset of cold weather, you can repeat the above manipulation (if necessary);
• crown should be formed only on dry days;
• before that, dry and damaged branches must be cleaned;
• to ensure the growth "in width" it is necessary to cut off the top.

Wintering

This variety tolerates a decrease in temperature quite well. It can withstand cooling to -30 ° C. But, despite this, it is better to prepare the plant for winter, so that it is guaranteed not to freeze.

Be sure to warm young trees. For these purposes, a thick film or spanbond is suitable. Rhizome does not suffer in winter if you cover the trunk circle with fallen leaves.

Adult trees also need protection from the cold (at extremely low temperatures), strong winds, and also from snow, which can break branches. They cover the thuja with agrofibre, natural burlap, and the branches are pressed together and fixed with soft fabric ribbons around the trunk.

Use in landscape design

Due to its excellent external characteristics, the thuja Forever Goldie is very widely used in landscape design. It fits equally well in summer cottages and in the urban environment, so it can be planted to decorate personal plots, and to create park areas in the city.

This thuja variety is especially good for forming very beautiful yellow hedges. Also, Forever Goldie goes well with other plants, which allows you to create spectacular group compositions.

Often its neighbors are tsuga, oriental spruce, as well as other evergreen plants belonging to the Cypress family. This variety can be formed as you wish, so that it fits perfectly into the general landscape.

Important! Treatment of plants with drugs must be carried out using a respirator and gloves.

Diseases and Pests

Although this variety of thuja is quite resistant to diseases, they still sometimes affect the plant. The most common of them:

1. Phytophthora - A disease of the upper part of the root system that occurs due to prolonged stagnation of water. Ailment can completely destroy the root and destroy the tree. For prophylaxis, fungicides are used, and it is better to destroy already diseased plants immediately. Complete replacement of contaminated soil.
2. Shute and rustthat lead to darkening and decay of the needles. For prophylaxis, a solution of HOMA is suitable, with which the tree crown is sprayed in the spring. If the disease manifests itself, the affected areas need to be cut and burned.
3. Shrinking branches, browning shoots. These diseases occur when there is a lack of minerals in the soil.

The main pests that negatively affect the development and appearance of trees:

• thuja aphid;
• speckled moth;
• thuja false shields;
• gray larch leaflet.

Bright shades of Forever Goldie will be able to decorate any garden or park, so this variety of thuja is simply indispensable for landscaping and creating hedges. It is not difficult to take care of this decorative plant - it does not require any special conditions for proper growth and development.