Arborvitae (Thuja) are common landscaping elements, prized for their dense, evergreen foliage and consistent, upright form. These conifers are frequently planted in straight lines to create tall privacy hedges or screens, establishing a solid, often monolithic, backdrop. Introducing plants in front of this dark green wall requires careful selection to ensure both visual harmony and long-term health.
Understanding the Arborvitae Backdrop
The typical arborvitae hedge provides a uniform backdrop defined by its color, shape, and fine texture. Popular cultivars, such as ‘Smaragd’ or ‘Green Giant,’ exhibit a deep emerald or glossy green color that remains consistent year-round. This dense, dark color acts as a neutral canvas, allowing brighter or contrasting hues in the foreground to become visually striking.
Arborvitae growth habit is typically narrow, columnar, or pyramidal, creating immense vertical scale compared to the planting bed below. Foreground selections must remain relatively low-growing to maintain proportion and prevent obscuring the hedge base. Arborvitae foliage is composed of small, flattened scales, creating a fine texture that benefits from pairing with plants that have significantly broader leaves. A textural contrast, such as smooth, large leaves or spiky blades, prevents the overall planting from appearing visually monotonous.
Color contrast is achieved by choosing foliage that features silver, deep purple, or golden-yellow tones, rather than just green. These colors pop dramatically against the dark evergreen wall, drawing the eye forward and adding depth. The hedge’s uniformity should be used to highlight the diversity of the foreground plants.
Low-Growing Plants for Visual Contrast
Foreground selections should focus on dramatic textural and color shifts against the fine-textured, dark-green backdrop. For areas receiving morning sun or dappled light, large-leafed perennials like Hosta cultivars provide a bold textural departure. The broad, often corrugated leaves of a Hosta create a coarse contrast against the fine, feathery sprays of the arborvitae, with some varieties offering variegated or blue-toned foliage.
Heuchera (Coral Bells) is an excellent choice for introducing a spectrum of non-green colors, including deep burgundy, chartreuse, caramel, and silver-veined leaves. These low-mounding perennials maintain their vibrant color throughout the growing season, acting as living accents that interrupt the dark hedge line. Similarly, the silvery foliage of groundcovers like Spotted Dead Nettle (Lamium maculatum) brightens the base, making the planting bed feel more expansive.
Dwarf shrubs offer more structure and density than perennials, with low-growing cultivars of Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata) or dwarf Mugo Pine providing alternative evergreen textures. The needle-like foliage of a dwarf pine contrasts sharply with the scale-like leaves of Thuja, while its rounded form breaks up the straight line of the hedge. For softer contrast, ornamental sedges like Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’ introduce fine, arching blades that offer movement and a subtle, variegated texture at ground level.
Matching Plants to Environmental Conditions
Selecting foreground plants must account for the challenging horticultural conditions created by an established arborvitae hedge. Thuja species are typically shallow-rooted, and their extensive root systems aggressively compete with adjacent plants for moisture and nutrients in the topsoil layer. Planting requires disturbing the soil as little as possible and choosing species that can tolerate this intense root competition.
The height and density of the hedge significantly reduce the amount of direct sunlight reaching the foreground bed, particularly on the north side of the screen. Plants selected for these areas must be genuinely shade-tolerant, such as many Hosta or Fern varieties, to ensure they do not become leggy or yellow from insufficient light. Even on the south side, the lower portions of the bed often receive only partial sun.
The dense canopy of the arborvitae intercepts a substantial amount of rainfall, creating a rain shadow at the base of the hedge. Established foreground plantings will require supplemental watering, even during periods of regular precipitation, as they are shielded from natural moisture. Durable, drought-tolerant, and shallow-rooted plants are the most successful choices, as they are better equipped to survive in the drier, competitive soil environment.