Check out how easy it is to remove Emerald Green Arborvitaes that have been in the ground for four years. The trees died from heat stress during the Texas 2022 Summer Heat Wave in Zone 8A. Now I have more space to be a bit more creative. The tree removal took approximate 15 minutes.

Planting Emerald Green Arborvitaes anywhere in Texas is not "normal", you should steer away from Thuja Occidentalis trees due to the trees not being well adapted to tolerate high heat, specifically multiple days in a row. According to tags Emerald Green's are hardy from zones 2 8. From experience Zone 8A is simply too hot, unless you have them in shade most of the day and water them every day during the summer, and even then you will see heat stress in the plant. Emerald Green's are beautiful soft dark green conifers but they are simply not adapted to this environment.