Full Speed A Hedge with American Pillar

In all my dealings with plant breeders and nursery people, I never met anyone who  believed in their new plant as much as John Houser. Certainly every plant breeder feels his or her new invention is the best, but how many would postpone their retirement at age 85 to start up a nursery based on it? Houser did and said, “I’m too old to work hard, too mule-headed to retire.”

You see, John knew in his heart that he had found his “one in a million shot” when he discovered an unusual branch mutation on an arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) on his property. That mutation was an ultra-fast-growing branch sport with a dense, narrow growth habit. 

“This particular arborvitae will withstand extremes of heat, cold, and moisture, making it a candidate for home landscapes, and screening situations in most of the lower forty-eight states.  Other plants commonly used for screening purposes, such as hemlock and pine, have diseases that are depleting their usefulness.  Leland cypress is being attacked by the lethal Cercospora needle blight which is now widespread across the South and East.  The American Pillar Nursery is positioned to fill the demand for a better, disease-resistant replacement plant.”  John Houser

Full Speed A Hedge is perfect for hiding bad views PDQ

In August of 2009, just days after Thuja ‘American Pillar’ was granted U.S. Plant Patent number 20,209, Houser called to sell me on ‘American Pillar.’ At the time, I eschewed arborvitae because one variety, Emerald arborvitae, dominated the market. It was the only cultivar our customers wanted to buy, grow, or sell. Selling a new cultivar would be difficult if not impossible. But John was, well, muleheaded. He was not about to take no for an answer. He wore me down; I acquiesced and sent him a trialing license, and he sent me 100 trial plants. I soon discovered that John was right. His plant was very special. With a growth rate of a meter (nearly 40”) a year, ‘American Pillar’ was the fastest arborvitae I had ever seen, much faster than ‘Green Giant’ and narrower too. And when it comes to screening and hedging plants, fast and narrow is what everyone wants: growers, landscapers, and homeowners. And because of its ‘Hetz Wintergreen’ bloodline, John’s plant was both hardy and heat-tolerant. Most definitely, there was a market for this plant. 

In the meantime, John was ramping up his business, planting, hiring, and selling to everyone in the greater Atlanta area. McMansions were being built at a crazy pace, and these people wanted fast privacy. Of course, John was more than happy to help. He developed a software program (AsICit) that landscapers used to show people how an ‘American Pillar’ hedge would look in their yard. 

He took before and after pictures to show everyone how fast his plant grew. And his dogged persistence and old-fashioned work ethic paid off. Growers and landscapers began to discover this super fast-growing plant. Today, landscapers are buying every decent-sized plant available. Demand has been incredible. 

Mavis Houser next to an American Pillar Hedge.

But you don't have to be a professional landscaper to have access to this new, fast-growing privacy plant. And you don't need to buy large, expensive, landscape-grade plants to get the same results. A new online retail program called Full Speed A-Hedge offers a tray of (8) 2-qt-sized plants that will quickly make 20 feet of privacy hedge. Plant them 2 1/2 feet apart, and 8 plants = 20 feet of privacy. The beauty of these smaller plants is that they're easy to plant, and they establish faster than larger, more expensive plants. Below are two photographs of a hedge at my brother's house. He had a neighbor that was, dare I say, a jerk, who put up an ugly, eighty-foot-long, 5' tall cyclone fence. To hide the fence and the neighbor, I gave my brother four trays of the Full Speed A Hedge. In 2 1/2 years, planted 2 1/2 feet apart, these little 2-quart plants had hidden the fence. In two years the plants were taller than the fence. In less than four years, you could no longer see the neighbor's house or pole barn. Problem solved. 

American Pillar planted as Full Speed A-Hedge plants after two years reaching the top of a 5' fence

   

My wife standing next to the same fence and "Full Speed A-Hedge" after only four years

The key to getting the fastest possible growth is to make sure the plants get watered regularly when young. The soil should be moist but not soaking wet. Fertilize them in early spring. I recommend a high-nitrogen fertilizer at label rates. Keep the plants free of weeds! Weeds will rob your plants of growth by competing for water, nutrients, and sunlight. Mulch is a good way to prevent weeds. A two-inch layer of composted wood chips will do the job and help retain water. That's it.  

John, like most people that develop new plants, never got rich. But for plant breeders, it’s not about the money. It’s about that special feeling you get when you invent something useful, something beautiful, something that your fellow man appreciates. It’s about that one-in-a-million moment when you drive through a neighborhood and see your plant in someone’s yard. John got to experience that a few years back. Some 70 years since he pulled his first paycheck from the landscape trade in 1938, John Houser has retired and is at rest, but his plant lives on. 

To locate plants for purchase, visit FullSpeedAhedge.com.