Sounds like there aren't too many tree lovers on this forum :(, but has anybody planted those "green giant" Arborvitae you see in all the spring gardening mags? In recent years they have been heavily marketed as a super fast growing evergreen; up to 60 feet. Yeah, I know good marketing when I see it, but other than the exaggerated hype, are these a descent Arb? Especially in the Midwest?
The green giants are a hybrid between the western red cedar (Thuja Plicata) and a Japanese arb (Thuja Standishii). I have grown Thuja Plicata here in Michigan, but they don't thrive as well as our native Arbs (Thuja Occidentalis).
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/GreenGiant.html (http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/GreenGiant.html)