Green Giant Arborvitae spacing

[ss88]

I planted 20 green giants in March 2020 and another 10 to complete the property line in March 2021. About 3-4 feet tall when planted, now some are 12+ feet tall. I planted them 5 feet apart on center. I’m concerned with the spacing being too close. I want them to reach about 30-40 feet high. Anyone have experience with planting them 5 feet apart? How do they look after 10 years or so?
Thanks

 

[ATH]

Too close! That is border line too close for emerald arbs. Green Giants should be 8-12 in my opinion. Honestly, you could probably pull every other tree and be good.

 

[ss88]

Too close! That is border line too close for emerald arbs. Green Giants should be 8-12 in my opinion. Honestly, you could probably pull every other tree and be good.

That’s what I was thinking the same. I’ve seen a line of massive green giants and it looks like the trunks are about 10 feet apart. I was thinking of pulling every other and staggering them out 4-5 feet into their own line. How big can a tree be before it shouldn’t be transplanted anymore? I don’t want to kill them.

 

[ATH]

How gig of a hole do you want to dig?

What is the trunk diameter? If you spades those out, you are probably going to want at least a 36" if not bigger. Can you put the next row back 10' instead of just 5?

If you don't have room, maybe a nursery would want them? Wouldn't be worth a huge chunk of money for you - especially if you have them fill the holes...but they could probably give you something and you wouldn't have to deal with the trees.