Anna's Magic Ball® Arborvitae

‘Bright and bouncy’ doesn’t sound like a garden plant, but it’s a pretty good description of Anna’s Magic Ball® Arborvitae. This tough evergreen is bright and colorful, with brilliant golden foliage that holds its color all year round. Its rounded shape comes naturally, and it does look like a bouncy golden ball, standing about 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide when mature, although with trimming it could be a perfect sphere if that is what your garden needs. As tough as the proverbial nails, and hardy in zone 3, it’s the pot of gold at the end of the garden rainbow for cold-zone gardeners. It would look great at the corners of beds, on either side of a gate or door, among shrubs and other evergreens, and you can clip it or not, as you choose – either way its spherical form is certain to develop. It would be perfect in a pot, too, which you could leave outdoors all winter from zone 5 – perfect on a patio or at the foot of stairs. Super-easy to grow and as ideal for beginners as it is useful for experienced gardeners who know the impact golden foliage brings to your landscape.

• Compact, rounded ball of evergreen foliage
• Brilliant gold color, which holds for every month of the year
• A top pick for zones 3 and 4, with great winter hardiness
• Can be trimmed for the perfect sphere, or left to grow into a more casual ball
• Resistant to deer and free of significant diseases or pests

The best color and tightest growth will come if you plant Anna’s Magic Ball® Arborvitae out in all-day sunshine. If you do have a little shade each day, it will still be fine, if just not quite as bright. It grows best, as all arborvitae do, in a soil that is moist and rich, so add some compost when you plant. If your soil isn’t so great, don’t worry, it will still do fine. Water regularly, especially when it is young, but it will take normal summer drought in cooler zones with no problem. It also grows in wet soils, so it’s perfect for low-lying spots and clay soils. Sprinkle a handful of evergreen fertilizer around it in spring, or feed plants in pots regularly with a liquid version. Trim as needed, waiting in spring for the new growth to mature a little. In colder areas don’t trim after the first week of September. Don’t trim during hot, dry weather. Deer don’t eat it and it really has no pests or diseases of note – it’s super-easy and super-bright.