Green Giant Thuja - Northside Evergreen - On Decline Watch - February 2024

Coming up on two years ago (April 2022), I planted six Green Giant Thujas in two spots.  Three evergreen trees in a row on the southside of the backyard and three on the northside.   Here's a post showing the three on the north side that included transplanting some Lilac shrubs along the fenceline.  

By December 2022 - 7ish months later - two of them were in trouble.  Here's a look at how one of them had 'browned out' during the Winter dormancy period.  By the following Spring (May 2023), another one was gone.  Two down, one remaining on the north side.  

The three on the southside have survived just fine.  Here's a look at those three last September - 17 months after being planted - and they looked good.  Right now, in Winter they look *different* than they do during their growing season: darker, less shine and a little unhappy.  But, I'm pretty sure those three are going to be fine come Spring.

The remaining one on the north side, however, is....well, I'm not sure.  But, I'm putting myself on notice: this is one to watch.  Have a look at the photo below that shows it being a pale green set of needles.  Not dying, but not thriving, right?  Is this in decline?  Or just Winter dormancy?

I'll watch this for the next few weeks and time will tell if this one turns brown or comes back.  April will bring 24 months in the ground and (by then), I'm assuming that it will have established itself enough to fight off drought.