Thuja Occidentalis Golden Smaragd - Northern White Cedar

Thuja Occidentalis Golden Smaragd is a dense, evergreen conifer with golden yellow needles. It’s a golden version of the popular hedging conifer Thuja Occidentalis Smaragd and equally suits a tall but low maintenance hedge or evergreen privacy screen.

Thuja Occidentalis is a Northern White Cedar that’s native to Canada and the northern areas of the United States. It grows at altitude in well-drained sunny conditions and is tough enough to cope with UK winters.

Thuja Occidentalis Golden Smaragd, which is synonymous with Thuja Janed Gold, is a golden variety of  Thuja Occidentalis Smaragd – Smaragd being German for emerald. It originated in Poland in 1999 in a nursery crop and has become popular for its rich golden tones without losing regular Thuja Samragd’s excellent qualities. It’s a compact, dense evergreen that grows in a conical form with slightly slower initial growth rates than other White Cedars. Its flat sprays of tiny aromatic leaves look scaly and have the typical sweet cedar aroma. In autumn small knobbly cones may appear.

Thuja Golden Emerald is an excellent hedging shrub that brings year-round privacy and colour.

Height And Spread of Thuja Occidentalis Golden Smaragd
Over ten years it will grow to a maximum height of 2 metres but remains much slimmer only reaching 60 cms in width.

How Hardy Is Thuja Occidentalis Golden Smaragd
Thuja Golden Emerald is fully hardy in exposed or sheltered spots if its roots are well-drained. It’s able to withstand sub-zero temperatures, drought, and pollution.

How To Use Thuja Occidentalis Golden Smaragd
This is a superb hedging plant that’s dense enough to create a screen on its own, or it can be grown along a fence line to cover panels and create extra height that blocks out the neighbours 12 months of the year.

It’s a thick, dense evergreen that provides shelter for plants that need protection from harsh winds or direct sun including camellias or acers. Birds enjoy the safety of its thick branches.

How To Care For Thuja Occidentalis Golden Smaragd
Thuja Golden Emerald is low maintenance and easy to grow. It tolerates the majority of well-drained soils including chalk and prefers a sunny to a partially sunny spot. It will grow in full shade too, but its growth rate will be slower and the colours much duller.

Pruning isn’t required but you can trim back new growth and tidy up the height or width throughout the year.

Be sure to water well until it’s established. Although Thuja can cope with drought, it needs plenty of water to bed down and become established.