CT Trees

[southern-ct-4]

Has anyone in the CT area purchased from these guys: https://www.cttrees.com/online-store

It ($275 for an 8/9' green giant including delivery/installation) is too good to be true.

I've contacted several companies and they generally range between $400 to $650 including installation, depending on size (5/6' up to 7/8'). CT Tree is also the only one claiming to have 8/9'.

The average prices I've gathered are $425 for 5/6', $535 for 6/7' and $650 for 7/8'. So $275 (for any size) is amazing.

The reviews on FB are very good (though I assume it's pretty easy to farm good reviews)
But not so good on yelp:

Any thoughts? I will likely not go with them based on the yelp reviews and the simply too good to be true pricing, but just wondering if anyone here had any personal experience with them.

[MorpheusPA]

I have not. However, your local nursery is going to have gorgeous Green Giant Thuja around 2' tall in pots, easy to handle, cheap, and easy to plant by yourself. At that size, root shock is minimal, the "sleep" year doesn't exist, and you can start feeding immediately.

The first year will be a bit of a creep while they establish root mass, then next year they'll shoot skyward if you continue to feed well. Mine were putting on six feet a year the second and third years. Larger plants will have the traditional sleep, creep, leap cycle.

[southern-ct-4]

Thank you very much (and sorry for my late reply). To confirm, are you saying that 2' trees if planted now, will grow minimally this year, but next April, May, June, etc... will grow rapidly (possibly 6'/year)? Whereas if I plant 6' (or taller) trees now, they won't really grow much for 2 years before they shoot upwards?

[MorpheusPA]

That's about the size-change of it. Or, why I chose potted small Thuja Green Giants, planted in mid-April (for you, the equivalent date would be around May first), kept damp and gently fed, and started stepping the feeding up in June.

Growth actually started the first year, but I didn't get more than a foot or two. Year two? More than six feet, but I poured on the resources.

Burlapped, bigger trees have been heavily shocked by being ripped out of the ground and tend to stall for a full year, then grow very slowly for a year, then finally grow--and they're more expensive to begin with. I prefer to shape smaller trees as they grow to my own specifications.

[southern-ct-4]

Great, thanks again. If/when I make a final decision and get something planted, I may follow-up to ask about 'pouring on the resources'...

[southern-ct-4]

Quick follow-up (in terms of larger trees); a local nursery told me:

"Ours are all field grown balled & burlapped with an established root system. Once they are rooted in they will grow quickly depending on exposure, watering, fertilizer etc. There are places that will have what they call 5’, 6’, or bigger but just won’t be as developed with overall growth or maturity. Buyer beware!"

Is there any real truth to that or is it all talk? They are well above the average price I received from a few landscapers (no other nursery-type places though).

I even had one (well-respected in my town) landscaper quote me on 8' trees at a price much less than the 6/7' price from the guys quoted above.

Thank you.

[MorpheusPA]

Managed to cut out a burlapped root system two to three times wider than the width of the branches, did they, to a depth of four inches through the volume? Sure, they did. And totally without shocking them, I'm sure.

Mind, trees can be forced harder than others, but no, they certainly didn't take the entire established root system, or appreciably more than anybody else does. There's more impact on establishment due to how long the burlapped tree has sat, how it was cared for while it sat, and so on, than there really is from excision from the ground; that's always pretty severe. I've seen plenty I wouldn't take at 95% off.

The reason I prefer potted very small trees (and whips) is that they're incredibly cheap, very, very small, and if they tell you it was grown in the pot, that's great. The whole root system is there--and for a 2' tree, that's probably true. I've grown trees to eight feet in pots, but they're incredibly root-bound by the time I'm done and I'm effectively practicing Hachi-no-Ki ("Tree in a pot," the precursor to bonsai, but not nearly as harsh).

[southern-ct-4]

Understood and thanks!

Also, just to confirm (even though you pretty much did above), if I were to plant 2' trees today and take excellent care of them, how long should (in theory) would it take for them to reach 5/6' (understanding of course there are multiple other factors such as sun/overall weather, along with 'taking care of them')? Might they do so by October of 2024?

Thanks again.

[MorpheusPA]

June of 2024, with excellent care. Let's see if I have photos; I'm sure I do. I photograph everything. Fortunately, this is now and not next week when I'm setting up a new computer and juggling M.2 drives.

They don't call them Thuja Green Giant for nothing. I was pushing these, but...yeah.

2009, about 2 weeks post-planting on May 7th.


2010, almost exactly 1 year later on May 13th.

[MorpheusPA]

July 11, 2011


June 3, 2012.

[MorpheusPA]

The white fence is five and a half feet tall or so; I can see over it, but not by a great deal when standing next to it. Today, 2023, growth has slowed; they haven't grown that much in the last five years because I don't feed them much. They now stand about 25 feet tall, interlocked, a solid wall of greenery.

[southern-ct-4]

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed info and all the pics. This is definitely food for thought, as I'm looking at (on average across a few estimates) about $6k for 16 x 5/6' ($372 each, installed, on average), $8k for 6/7' or $10k in 7/8'. Though I did have one guy quote $8k for 8' trees.

When you talk about pushing and feeding them, what do you recommend?

Thanks again!

[MorpheusPA]

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed info and all the pics. This is definitely food for thought, as I'm looking at (on average across a few estimates) about $6k for 16 x 5/6' ($372 each, installed, on average), $8k for 6/7' or $10k in 7/8'. Though I did have one guy quote $8k for 8' trees.

Bleeding ridiculous. I paid around $300 grand total for all thirteen of mine, planted them myself (trivially easy when they're in 2 gallon pots) and stood back before they punched me in the chin as they grew past.

I am also known as a completely cheap-butt DIY sort of person. I am wearing a violet-navy-gray-black shirt that I dyed myself because complex colors just aren't available, and do you really think I'm going to do anything but buy closeout white shirts and dye them? Please.

When you talk about pushing and feeding them, what do you recommend?

What I did was feed monthly with organics (Milorganite, soy, and so on), and fed weekly through the season for a few years, from the start of growth in May through the first of August with some Miracle Gro. One stops at that point so growth slows and new growth has ample time to harden off before frost--and so the root systems have some time to catch up.

I gave a simpler recommendation to somebody who had a Thuja of unknown provenance; feed monthly but heavily with Milorganite. Hers put on many feet every year as well, although not quite to the same height and density as mine did. But mine (as you note) are in full sun, dawn to dark, have no competition, and were never allowed any water stress, either.

Nowadays, I feed with the lawn (May, August, September, October, and November), and won't allow them to go dry for extended periods. That's it.

[southern-ct-4]

Thank you again for all the detailed info! I think I'm leaning towards doing this on my own. About 10 years ago I planted 3 tiny (from pots at HD) leyland cypress, and they are now quite large (10' or more) and doing great (with no care/feeding after the first year).

[MorpheusPA]

This ain't rocket science (scary fact; I knew a rocket scientist who came to our company from NASA. She was one of the densest, most narcissistic, least flexible people I've had the displeasure to meet). Just a little basic care really does go a very long way.

[southern-ct-4]

Sorry, one more question; do you know about how far apart you planted your trees?

trying to figure out how many I need. also trying to figure out if i should add more trees and stagger them, to help with privacy even quicker (or maybe if starting with such small trees it doesn't need to be staggered, and that's really only if starting with 5' or taller trees?).

Thanks again!

[MorpheusPA]

8 foot, center to center, straight line. That seems to have height-limited them to around 25 feet, which for me, is just fine. That created a solid green wall, which is what I wanted. Closer will work, but will limit height more. Further away will also work, and lets the trees grow taller.

15' is recommended if you want them to still look like a unit but not create so much of a wall effect.

[southern-ct-4]

Perfect, thanks. 25' is probably a good height for me, though perhaps I'll space them just a bit farther apart.