Canadian Hemlock, Tsuga canadensis
The Canadian Hemlock is one of my all time favorite upright evergreens. I use them in many of the landscapes that I do, including my own. They grow nice and full but are still easy to maintain at just about any given height you choose.
Canadian Hemlock
Canadian Hemlock
In a landscape planting as I used this one, I like to keep them at a height of about 6-1/2, maybe 7′. Just tall enough that I can trim the tree without the use of a ladder. In the foreground of the above photo you can see two Gold Thread Cypress. I often use the Canadian Hemlocks on a corner as I have done here, then accent the evergreen Hemlock with the brilliant yellow Gold Thread Cypress.
But don’t over use the Gold Thread. Three around the front of the bed is good, then use another evergreen around the back of the bed. Something like Taxus Sebian, Taxus Densiformis, or even Blue Girl Holly. Using the additional evergreens around the back of the Hemlock also provides an evergreen back drop for the Gold thread from different angles and really makes them stand out, but still not over the top with the yellow color.
How to Trim Canadian Hemlock.
I took these two photos on July 17th. As you can see this tree has some new growth that gives it a soft, feathery look. This tree has not be trimmed since last fall, maybe late last summer. I probably won’t trim it until this fall, or when Pam starts suggesting that it needs trimmed. She trims a lot of the plants in the landscape and does an awesome job on the Japanese maples. But she leaves the Hemlock for me. I only trim it once a year.
When I trim it I use regular, manual hedge shears and all I do is tighten it up. Each time that I trim it, it gets a little tighter and eventually, over a period of years it gets so tight you can’t even get your fist inside of the plant.
As a side note, I trim Rhododendrons the same way and they get just as tight! Nice and full.
Left untrimmed the Canadian Hemlock looks great for the first year or so, but what happens is the same thing that happens with all plants that are left un-pruned. When you leave a plant un-pruned the following year it flushes out with new growth in the spring just like it’s supposed to. But all of that growth is on the ends of the branches that should have been trimmed off the year before. Many people don’t realize what’s happening, don’t really know how to correct it, and before long the plants in their landscape look terrible. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
Pruning is much simpler than most people make it out to be. For different reasons. Some people really don’t like to do yard work so they simply don’t prune. And when they do, they don’t prune enough to make up for the prunings that they missed. Others just can’t bring themselves to cut off much from their plants. I’m not sure if they are afraid they’ll hurt them, or if they feel that they paid good money for them and they are not going to cut away part of what they paid for. I’m not sure what all the emotions are that go with pruning or not pruning.
One of the emotions has to do with spousal issues and I’m not even going there. It’s not a gender thing. It’s a spousal thing. There’s alway one person in the relationship that wants to prune and the other thinks he or she is a pruning maniac. To the point that they drag me or their father into the argument! It’s true!
So whether you are pruning a Canadian Hemlock, a Rhododendron or any other plant in your landscape I’ll let you in on a little secret. The ideal time to trim any plant is when it needs it. If you wait, you might not get around to at the “ideal time” and next thing you know the landscape got away from you. Seriously.
Like most evergreens Canadian Hemlocks don’t do well in really wet soil, but they can tolerate more shade than most other evergreens. But you should also know that I use them and grow them in full sun, so they are okay with that too. They do well in zones 3 through 8 and make an excellent evergreen hedge. However, they are slow growing and slow growing plants always cost more. Our Backyard Growers can buy Canadian Hemlock in small sizes for as little as $1.50 each and if you get lucky you might find one of our Backyard Growers near you that have some for sale for less than $5.00 each. I can’t promise that, but if they knew you wanted some, they’d be on the look out for them.
I am really proud of our Backyard Growing Community.
They provide an incredible service to gardeners all over the U.S. and Canada and beyond. Who else is willing to sell you beautiful plants and a really large selection of beautiful plants for $4.97 each or less? My goal is to see that everybody has the opportunity to buy from one of our Backyard Growers.
Join us today!
I’d like to buy some rooted Rhodendron slips if you know of a supplier…Bill
Bill, there are some growers that can help you out. Just call a few in my wholesale directory that comes with the http://freeplants.com/wanted.htm. If they don’t have them they will know who does. I bought some last year for $2.00 and they are doing great.
lol, I am still laughing about the complicated emotions you have described involved in pruning.Very funny. No wonder we have such a hard time trimming things up. They are all true! Thank you Mike for this enlightening article.
Do you have any photos of the Canadian Hemlock used as a hedge? Thank you.
Shirely, I don’t. I can only use my own photos or photos that I have permission to use.
Are these resistant to the wooly adelgid?
I have a question about my Japanese Red Maple trees. I set them out a couple of months ago and now the leaves are turning “dry” and falling off. What do I need to do?
Thanks,
darlene
Darlene, just keep them watered, shaded if possible. But don’t over water them. This is how you test to see if a plant, or a branch on a plant has died. Just scratch the bark of your plants with your finger nail. If the tissue below the bark is green and firm your plants are fine. If the tissue is brown and mushy that part of the plant is dead.
How can I find out if one of your backyard growers are in my area?
Leslee, check this list: http://www.mikesbackyardnursery.com/category/backyard-nurseries/
Hey, Mike: I love your ‘letters.’ I am 73 (almost)and LOVE evergreens. All these years, I’ve call these Hemlocks, Arborvita (spelling?). They are my favorite too. My lot is fairly large, but horrible clay (whose isn’t around here). Wish I had tried years ago to grow these all over my lot, now am afraid there’s ‘not much coal left in the old furnace.’ You grow one of them for me, ok? Keep growning!
Barbara, you got it!
Please explain how to trim a Japanese Maple. We have two in front of our house and they are getting too large.
Nancye, I have an article and a video here: http://japanesemaplelovers.com/
Haha! Spousal issues! You know this is true!
thanks for the tip and the laugh!
Mike, I like your “messages”!
Moving to Arizona is a new experience! Help! Is there “Backyard Growning” here also? The plantings here are NICE! But just need a couple as a reminder of Illinois! Is there something like “Hemlock” to grow here?
Marty, I don’t know. I’d ask around locally.
It is very pretty. We are moving to Ky. and I need ideas on evergreens and landscaping. Keep them coming.
I planted a C Hemlock 20+ years ago. It was about 4 feet tall. Today Its about 7 feet tall. I don’t know what’s happened,but it only grows 1-2 inches a year.It is scraggly and ugly,but seems healthy otherwise. I’m sure location. It has mostly full sun. All these years I’ve expected it to die, but seems to hang in there with no care. I have a Japanese pine the same way. I think it’s location for both.
Jerry, it sounds like soil conditions. The trees sound as if they are stunted which happens in really poor soil.
Do you think these could stand the GA heat? We’ve had an extreme summer, but most days in July and August are 90 – 100 degrees.
Thanks!
Ellen, they are pretty tough, it’s been that warm most of this summer here in Ohio and my Hemlocks are doing fine. You just have to keep them watered. But what zone are you in. The zones for Canadian Hemlocks are shown above.
Hello Mike; that is a beautiful evergreen and if we can find them large enough and we can afford them, I would love to plant them as a living fence around our Kansas property.
Mike, I have a serious problem and need advice. I can’t say I have a green thumb. I have planted two prune plum trees that are growing, one prairie fire crab, doing well and three birch trees, one died other are doing well. I have planted two thomcord grape vines, doing very well but I don’t know how to prune them. Now on to my problem.
We live in Kansas, we are having the worst drought in about 60yrs. Even w/watering our “lawn” is gone, the ground is cracked and in some areas is pretty bad. “Lawn” is really a misnomer; we have very little grass left at all, we have horrible weeds-some are Texas sandburs, some are even more evil and known around here as ‘goat head stickers’. Both are taking over everywhere and the stickers are painful to say the least.
We live on one income and support my mom so money is ABSOLUTELY an object. I need a FAST, CHEAP way to get rid of these thorn terror weeds and plant something hardy, preferably doesn’t need mowing, would love something evergreen for our area if possible and something that has a good root system to help keep these weeds out and the soil together.
Can you help with suggestions????
Thank you so much.
Kat from Kansas
Kat,
If you want to replace your lawn with some thing besides grass you really need to get the soil weed free before you proceed. Repeated rototilling over several weeks will do the trick. But it’s going to be costly to buy some kind of an evergreen ground cover to the job. Grass would be 100 or 500 times cheaper.
Mike, should we worry about Hemlock woolly adelgid, when thinking about Hemlock?
David, every plant seems to have a pest that attacks that particular plant. So it really depends on where you are and how much of an issue the pest is in your area. I know my nursery inspector warned not to buy Canadian Hemlock in from certain states. I think he said North Carolina but I don’t really remember since I wasn’t going to buy any from out of state.
Looks great Mike, but how do I get them to multiply so I can sell them?
Patti, most are grown from seed which is a very, very slow process. That’s why those of us that sell them allow somebody else to get them started then we buy them when they are a few years sold for not very much money and grow them on from there. I picked up some really nice small ones last year for $2.00 each. I’ll probably sell those in a few years for $60.00 or more.
When you trim, do you do the top, i.e., the leader? And, if you do trim the leader, does it affect later height for that kind of tree?
In that matter of trimming otherwise, how much of each branch do you remove?
I normally don’t cut the main leader until the tree is to the desired height that I want. Side branches I trim back to the general plane of the tree. This forces the tree to grow tight, full and compact.
How do you prune a Leyland Cypress?
I planted about a dozen very small Hemlock along a shady driveway a couple years ago. They’re still less than two feet high, and most of them have only have a few sprigs on them. Should I prune these? If so, how, how much, and when?
Thanks,
Bill B.
Bill, make sure they are growing single stem and not multiple leaders. Stake that single stem to get the height you want and trim the sides as needed to keep them uniform and conical.
Mike,
Have you ever heard about ” LARCH” trees?
I remember going to the forests in Poland and Germany and cutting foil age off and put them in a vase with water and our entire home would smell like fresh cut wild jasmine. I know they grow in Canada , so they have to grow in the States also.
Martiska, Here in New England we have the Larch, abeautifuf tree. I boight a weeping larch at Home Depot. Joseph
Hi I grow Larch (modrzew) in Illinois. I found it growing alot in northwoods Wi. Regards.
Martiska, we do have Larch in the states. What I see mostly are a weeping larch which is an ornamental tree. But I’m sure we also have the upright growing varieties as well.
I’m from Canada and haven’t evre heard of a Canadian hemlock does it have a generic name?
Debbie, that is the generic name.
Mike,
Thanks for the article on Canadian Hemlock. You mentioned this would be good for a hedge.
I have a 1200 ft driveway and would like to plant a hedge down one or both sides. It is a 40 ft wide easement so I can’t plant a wide hedge as I do have 60 trees of various varieties planted in a pattern I repeated every 200 ft. 4-5 ft wide would be my max as the trees closest to the lot line at 18yrs old now and bottom limbs are 6-8 ft.
I don’t want to trim them unless necessary.
I live in Ohio like you and would appreciate your recommendation.
Thanks,
Kevin
Kevin, something thinner would be Emerald Green Arborvitate, I’ll send something about them in a day or two. But they are evergreen and you don’t have consistent sunlight for them they will not all grow at the same rate. The lack of sunlight will really slow them down.
I have 3 large evergreens that have been growing long before I moved into my house. Is it ever to late to try to prune evergreens to get new growth. These evergreens are way tall but are sparse. Anyway to bring them back to becoming full again?
I appreciate your articles and find them very useful. Thanks for your time and effort.
Sue
Sue, that really depend on what they are, but in many cases you just won’t get the results that you want.
Uhmm, did I ask a wrong question or something? I posted a response & asked a question right around the same time Fran did; I keep checking back for an answer, but my question isn’t here?
Thanks,
Kat.
Kat, I approve comments as quickly as I can get to them, but sometimes it can be days. You know the drill, time flies!
Thanks for the info! This would do nicely in a corner of my landscape that is mostley deciduous, & as a result, is very dreary in winter months. Coupled with the Gold Cypress, it would really brighten things up & alleviate the SAD part of winter.
Hey Mike, Do you know of any members here in Tampa, Florida, that may have Arboricola plants for sale, or can you suggest how to grow them from cuttings………Thanks
OOps
Do deer eat canadian hemlocks?
I have grafted weeping Hemlock. Some are upright and weepping and other are low 1-3ft. spralling on the ground. Very nice.
I’m using an air propagator On one of my hemlocks.
I have been looking for something for an outdoor Christmas tree..
Have these hemlocks on three sides of our property for a total of approximately 250 feet of trees. Beautiful BUT they are suseptible to the white wooly adlelgid and we would have never planted them if we had known the work it takes to keep them bug disease free and trimmed. We have them now for 35 years and I wish we just bought fencing from the start!
ilove plants and apparently they love me to. problem i have more than a rented lot can handle. i have found them in woods, along roadways and even found one on I10 expressway looks like a kind of bird of paradise. all my plants seemed to have bloom of sort. been homedepot,lowes,scotties and several plant nurseries to sell myplants,and find out what they are called. everyone keeps telling i have to have a horticulture licence. just want to find homes so my land lord doesnt come in and distroy them like weeds {THEY ARE NOT WEEDS. how do i find out what they are called? some of my plant NO ONE has never seen them,not unusal.
even went to the agricultural office here. if i get caught selling w/o a licence there is a 250dollar fine.I have gone to the flea markets to sell but there 60.dollars aday for a 6″ft table in the aisle. my neighborhood only gets plants as a throw for the garbage it seems. what do i do. i have some really beautiful plants,but to many. i dont want to just throw them away and kill them.you make everything seem so easy just pack the drive way ,name tag everythin with identifiable names/real names of plants and they sell themself. NO LUCK HERE. realllly confused!!!!
Mary, do you have my Backyard Growing System? Probably not because you don’t really want to be in the business. But the problem is you can be in the business just a little bit. Like any business you have to first learn the business, learn how to market your product and how to do it correctly. In just the few sentences that you wrote I can see a number of things that you have done wrong which is why you are having so much problem trying to sell your plants. That’s why I sell the http://freeplants.com/wanted.htm, it shows people step by step how to do this business successfully.
just out of curiosity where do you live where you have to have a license? Who told you you have to have a Horticulture license? I’ve never heard of having to have that…the only time you need one is when your a landscape designer…I haven’t purchased it yet b/c I don’t have a greenhouse & I’m worried if a big storm comes up I can’t protect them!
I’m interested in buying about 20 fast growing evergreens this fall.
Let me know what you might suggest and what kind of evergreens you have for sale to plant this fall
I have planted 3 hemlocks (North Alabama) and 2 of them have died suddenly. It is at our vacation home so the trees were on their last legs when I discovered them. One looked great for 4 years and the other was doing great for over a year. When we planted them we were told to drench the soil around them for parasites in the soil and we did. Why are these expensive trees dying?
Glinda, I can’t say for sure, the soil could be too wet or they could be planted too deep. There is a disease that can attack Hemlocks but I’d look for the simple reasons first. That’s usually the case.
Mike, I really enjoy all of your ideas and mail. I wish I could be one of your backyard growers but have little space and almost no sun. This tree is outstanding. Thanks
Mike…what do you mean by “tighten it up” I am new to this and not sure how much to trim to “tighten it up”! thanks!
Lynn, primarily you what you are doing is cutting off about 2/3rds of the new growth. That way when the plant starts growing again it will put the new growth closer to the tree instead of way out on the tips of the branches which would make for a very loose looking tree that could eventually be consider straggly.
Beautiful tree Mike. Can you tell me how to trim my beautiful Japanese Maple, it seems to be growing out sideways instead of upward. Thanks so much for all your help.
I love the laughter in your notes! Thanks–us =)
Mike, our hemlock is about 70 years old. Of course we have been battling the wooly adlidged for several years with success, so far. My one question, ivy has grown up the trunk at least 30 feet or more. Is this harmful or beneficial for the tree. We were told it won’t hurt. I wonder still. Love your articles, I learn much.
Thanks for all
BB
BB, I’ll agree that the ivy probably won’t do any harm as long as it doesn’t start girdling the tree. If you suspect that just cut the vine at the ground.
Thank you for all your great info! I hope you can help with my problem. I live in Virginia, zone 6. About 4 years ago I planted 5 Mohawk viburnums as a screen in front of my house. They are next to the road and get full afternoon sun. Three have died for some unknown reason. The soil tested okay, so my husband thinks maybe it’s too hot for them there. Do you think another type of viburnum would be able to handle the heat better? Maybe Pragensa? Or can you recommend an evergreen that does well in extreme heat? Thanks so much!
Kathy, my first thought is road salt. It could have gotten on the foliage but not necessarily into the soil. There was also a pest that attacked a lot of Viburnum in up state New York. I don’t remember what it was. I’d contact the local county extension office to see what they have to say. Most Viburnums are pretty hardy, but I’m not sure how well they handle road salt.
Thank you for all your enthusiasm-it is wonderful. As soon as I can get $37.00 we will order your system. One question- what do we do with all these little baby plants over the Michigan winter?
Regards and thank you!
Sheri and family (9 of us here, 5 out of state!)
Sheri, over wintering small plants is not as difficult as you think. Most of my rooted cuttings spend the winter outside in the weather. Most years I didn’t even cover them. I’m in zone 5 Ohio so our winters are almost like yours. Maybe not as long or as much snow. But it does get plenty cold here most winters.
Hi Y’all,
No question…
Just want to share my Hemlock experience in Georgia.
These trees are beautiful. They grow abundantly here in the Northeast of Georgia.
I transplanted one to my Mountain Home front yard years ago, and now it is about 25ft.tall with a circumference of about 20ft. at its base. It has such a graceful appearance. It’s lacy branches seem to ripple at the slightest breeze. I, also, transplanted one to my Middle Georgia home backyard around the same time, and I have to say it is not as large as the one in the Mountains, but still an eye-catcher. It really compliments my landscape here in Middle Georgia.
It is an ideal tree for habitat cover. Creatures of all kinds migrate to its protection.
I often see these trees pruned to a hedge fence around the lake homes. They are lovely in the landscape.
Thank you, Mike, for sharing your knowledge. I am so glad that I found your websight.
Sharon C.
Hi Mike,
Love your articles and tips. We have a large empty front yard, but live on a busy highway in Indiana. I was wondering how these do with air pollution. I planted some regular generic spruce last summer and they died. I am wanting to eventually put up enough trees and plants to create privacy and block some of the road noise. Thanks ahead of time.
Rhonda M.
Rhonda, I’d have to think they’d do just fine. I’m willing to bet that air pollution is not what killed your Blue Spruce. Could have been too wet, too dry, or planted too deep.
Do these have any cones on them? I don’t think they do but thought I would ask! All your articles are enjoyable to read!
LOL – spousal issues! When the “cute little pines” in our yard grew over the years until they blocked the kitchen window, the walk, a good part of the driveway, and were about to swallow the whole house, I began trimming them up from the ground by hand. But hubby thought they should grow “free” like in the woods… It got so bad that I found myself waiting till he wasn’t home to sneak out, cut some branches, and quick burn them before he got back! So, glad to see it isn’t just me
I just found this wonderful information about growing and trimming Canadian Hemlock, but it did not answer my question: My tree, planted about 3 years ago has reached a height of about 8 feet and has three trunks. Should I eliminate two of them? It is at the front corner of our house and I will probably keep it at about this height, or a tad taller.
Betsy,
At this point in the game it’s probably too late to effectively get rid of the multiple leader problem you have and still save the tree. I’d just keep it trimmed up nice and tight once a year and I’m sure it will be fine.
I live in Toronto Canada and am looking for a hedge to hide an unsightly chain link fence which backs on to my neighbours property. Would you recommend a hemlock over a yew hedge?
Ping,
Either one would make a great hedge and I don’t really see a preference. Make sure the yew you buy is an upright such as Taxus Hicksi. The hemlock might grow a little faster and they are wider so you’d need fewer of them.