My husband planted the Thuja in relatively rocky soil near a fence line. We had a severe drought last year and worried if the Thuja Giant would make it. It did! It is about 6 feet tall now and getting fuller at the bottom, thinner near the top but hopefully it will fill out this summer with normal rain and sprinkling. It looks like a Christmas tree at the moment. I like the fact that it tolerated many different extremes in temperature and still survived.