Arborvitae

Excellent evergreen hedge and privacy screen plant, creating dense vertical walls of feathery foliage. Popular for formal gardens, windbreaks, and foundation plantings. Naturally pyramidal form requires minimal pruning. Dwarf cultivars work well in rock gardens and containers.

Native Americans used cedar leaf tea for headaches, colds, and rheumatism. Contains thujone, a potentially toxic compound requiring careful dosage. Traditional uses include treating warts, fungal infections, and respiratory ailments. Modern herbalism employs it cautiously in homeopathic preparations.

Not used in culinary applications due to toxic thujone content. The aromatic foliage is sometimes used to flavor game meats through smoke but should not be consumed directly. Indigenous peoples occasionally used minute amounts as seasoning, but this is not recommended today.

Provides year-round shelter for birds and small mammals. Dense branching offers excellent nesting sites. Seeds feed various songbirds in winter. Deer browse heavily on foliage, often damaging landscaping. Native species support more wildlife than Asian varieties.

Evergreen conifer with flat, scale-like leaves arranged in flattened sprays. Bark is reddish-brown, fibrous, and shredding. Small, upright seed cones about 0.5 inches long. Foliage releases distinctive aromatic scent when crushed. Forms range from columnar to pyramidal.

Lightweight, soft wood highly resistant to rot and insects. Historically prized for fence posts, shingles, and canoe construction. Natural oils provide weather resistance without treatment. Used for outdoor furniture, decking, and siding. Pleasant cedar aroma repels moths in closets.

Name means 'tree of life' in Latin, referencing medicinal properties. Can live over 1,000 years in natural habitats. Ancient Egyptians used related species' oil in mummification. The wood's resistance to decay made it valuable for coffins. Some specimens develop unusual twisted growth patterns called 'spiral grain'.