How to Plant Emerald Green Arborvitae Shrubs in Pots

In thinking about curb appeal for this spring and summer, I wanted to switch things up a bit. I usually put something with color in matching pots on either side of our garage doors to add some interest to that side of the house. This year, I thought about keepings simple to coordinate with my monochromatic and classic porch. After looking at some of my saved Pinterest images, I decided to go shopping for some trees to put in the pots. Here is how to plant Emerald Green Arborvitae shrubs in pots for a classic and simple look.

Deciding on Arborvitae

I started to stroll through Home Depot and my eye was drawn to these Arborvitae shrubs. There was a huge pallet of them and they all looked so healthy. The size was right as I wanted something taller, but not too tall, because of our outdoor lights right above where these would go. The price was right for this size, $35 each. I like the fullness and the hue of green. Our home gets full sun on the front, so I definitely was shopping for something that could handle full sun. If you are shopping for these, keep in mind there are many different sizes of these trees/shrubs. I went with this medium size for my space.

Adding Vinca Vine

While at Home Depot, I started to look for something that would trail at the base of the pots to add a little more interest and dimension. This vinca vine caught my eye as the green is a little different hue than the arborvitae, but still gave that monochromatic look. I know that this grows quickly and is easy to care for. Of course, I just tested out how it would look right on the spot. SOLD! Of course, this is the perfect opportunity to add some color or any other annuals you love.

How to Plant Arborvitae in Pots

You can obviously use whatever pots you have on hand. I was using these stone pots that have been painted, aged, repainted, spray painted, etc! These have been so many colors and had different looks, ha! Depending on the diameter of your pots, you can just keep these in the grow pots, which is what I did, which actually means you aren’t really “planting” at all!

I dug out a small section of soil at the front to plant the vinca vine and added some fresh soil to the top. After one season in these pots, I will likely repot these again next year (if I can keep them alive over the winter)! Because my post are taller, I use turned over pots or whatever I can find in my garage to give height underneath the grow pot. In my case, the pots were a little narrow for the space, so I added pool noodles to keep it stable. You don’t see these anyway!

How to Care for Arborvitae in Pots

So far, so good with just watering with my rain barrel water. These get full sun so I always make sure they aren’t getting dried out, especially as it starts to get hotter and hotter here. If you don’t have a rain barrel, you might think about fertilizing these after first planting. I’m not sure what I will do with these once winter hits. I’ll likely bring them into the garage once it starts to get freezing temps. I love these because they stay evergreen and are more cold hearty than annuals, etc. But, I will not leave them out in the winter months. If they don’t survive, they were only $35 each and will have lasted May-Nov.

I hope this article on how to plant Emerald Green Arborvitae Shrubs in pots was helpful if you are thinking about potting something different. These shrubs give off Euro vibes, which I love! Easy to just plop inside of any pots you already have too. I planted some of these in our back yard a few years ago, and boy have they grown. You can find that post by clicking here. Happy planting! XO