PLEASE NOTE:
I’ve updated this post since it was first published in 2010. I’ve added better photos and they are more reflective of what this shrub looks like 7 years later.
As much as it pains me, I’m leaving the rambling text. I apologize in advance. I was such an immature writer back then but I don’t want to mess with changing history.
Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions on this plant, please feel free to email me at ongardener@yahoo.com.
Thanks.
Before discussing Arborvitae Rheingold, please enjoy the following rant.
Garden design is maddening, frustrating, confusing, enlightening and exhilarating – all at the same time.
I will never claim to be an expert in this arena and often wonder what I was thinking when I look back on some of my earlier work. I’m talking like real bad, like “get him a new hobby” bad.
Where I am at a superstar level, however, is in the field of “over analyzing plant design to the point of being held hostage by it”. By the middle of October each year, I have successfully convinced myself that I finally got it right. I will just keep things as-is come spring and enjoy what I’ve created. Then the “dormant” months hit and there is nothing but time to read and research and suddenly a new perspective comes into view. Before I know it, I’ve redesigned an entire garden bed and I’m moving giant shrubs around with reckless abandon. It’s like starting all over again. I think recording sensation Paula Abdul said it best when she so eloquently sang “I take two steps forward, I take two steps back.”
John, you are babbling on and on again, what the hell is the point? My point? Are those even required any more? I thought everyone could follow along with my rambling thoughts. Oh well, guess I’ll make one so I do not completely destroy my writing credibility.
I try like hell to add winter interest to my landscape and I think I’ve improved in that area the past year or so. One of the plants I’ve added is Thuja Occidentalis ‘Rheingold’ also known as Arborvitae Rheingold. This conifer scores a rating of “intriguing” to date and I’ll show you why in the following photos:
Arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ in June
Arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ in December
Arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ in February
Arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ foliage emerging in March
What do you think? Have any of you used this successfully? Maybe I should consider it in a container?On its own, this evergreen shrub is dynamic as it changes from month to month and brings a different look and feel as the seasons are changing. Where I struggle with this son of a bitch is how to design with it. It definitely looks best in the heat of summer when it is a phenomenal chartreuse green that combines real well with other dark foliage plants and dark flowers. When the juvenile foliage is tipped in orange in the spring and begins to change color in the fall, it becomes a bit odd looking when viewed with those same plants. I am enjoying the bronze color now as it doesn’t look quite as dead as it did at this time last year.
Before you go, some quick facts on Arborvitae Rheingold:
- Native to North America, survives in zones 2-8
- Typical size is about 3-5 ft by 3-5 ft but I’ve seen it much larger
- Grows about 6″ to 12″ each year
- Arborvitae Rheingold works in full to partial sun, but best color comes when planted in full sun
- Low maintenance – once established, drought and disease resistant
- Arborvitae Rheingold requires good drainage so I have mine planted higher in my clay soil
- From what I’ve seen, do not prune or trim, looks best in its natural shape
- Keep in a sheltered spot to protect from winter winds
I’m sure a little bonsai-ing would be fun with it!
Lovely post! I like to wander around the neighborhood and look at what other people have done that I like. So far 3 yards interest my eye. But thru all the seasons is what counts!
Don’t be discouraged. You are walking in the identical footsteps of all of the other gardeners that have come before you. And you are doing an exemplary job. Your mood, right now, is similar to that of many other gardeners who are chomping at the bit waiting to begin again.
The fact that your back yard is so large makes everything you do look great. An error here or there is no big deal.
You’re on the right track. The mistake is to have purchased an evergreen that does not hold its color in winter.
I recommend planting Taxus cupidata Nana or Taxus media Margarita, or Taxus media Densiforma. I would also consider Buxus.
I have some of these. Put them in front of a range of evergreens and behind die-back perennials. The evergreens they are in front of are boxwood, dwarf blue spruce, and manhattan euonymous.
Why this works: the three shrubs will grow together and form fluffy mounds in front of the larger shapes of the other shrubs. Because the other evergreens are all green (but not uniformly so) the rheingolds provide a color “pop” any time of the year. But the other evergreens do not vary, as the other poster had suggested..and they are darker, so there is a “bright in front of dark” that works well.
They look good this way, IMO.
I felt so familiar with your description towards the garden, hardly any of my plants remain in the place where it was originally planted ( okay, an exaggeration).
I understand your mix feelings towards rheingold arborvitae, is like it suddenly changes the game for you. I actually use it extensively in my garden and find to be a perfect year round companion of dark green (green giant) and blues (Colorado spruce, blue star juniper and atlas cedar).
After 3 years of obsessive Gardening, I found my self moving towards simpler designs, more inviting than stately.
I planted three of these shrubs together in a triangle years ago as a “specimen” s o they sort of don’t have to “go with” others. They are now 6-8 feet tall and 12-14 feet wide. They are beautiful in all seasons. I’ve been gardening 40 years and I must say you are a fast learner, way ahead of where I was at your age.
I applaud you.
Thanks so much Karen! Your ‘Rheingold’ are that tall and wide? Wow, any chance you could send a picture? Thanks again for stopping by!
how about rhododendron? i’m in central VT. mine are struggling. have been from the start.