Hi Adelaide,

Arborvitae are good shrubs to create privacy in Minnesota. They'll grown in partial sun. But they're not drought tolerant. They need to be watered regularly in dry summers and especially in the fall, before the ground freezes.

Your soils are normal for this area. You don't need to do any amending to plant.

These pages may be helpful:

https://extension.umn.edu/trees-and-shrubs/choosing-evergreens-your-landscape

If we have another hot dry summer wait to plant your arborvitae until late August and into September. Then water well and regularly right up until the ground freezes. Evergreens never go dormant in winter like deciduous trees do, so this is critical to getting them safely through the first winter.

If you live in an area where there are deer, they may be attracted to your arborvitae in winter. Some people use repellents or fencing to protect the plants:

https://www2.conifersociety.org/blogpost/2082607/489911/How-to-Prevent-Arborvitae-Deer-Damage

If deer are a concern, tall junipers are an alternative. Deer usually aren't eager to eat them, and upright junipers share the height and evergreen qualities of arborvitae. Once established, junipers are more drought-resistant than arborvitae. But they may be less adaptable to partial shade.

You might want to visit a garden center and look at the arborvitae as well as tall junipers like "Skyrocket" and "Medora." You'll see what they look like and can balance the pros and cons. Talk to nursery staff about your site and see what they advise.

Planting guidance for junipers would be the same as for arborvitae. Planting in heat and drought is bad for any plant, but temperatures should be cooling by late August and September.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Arborvitae will survive creeping bellflower. It's worth trying to get rid of the bellflower, though, because it will continue to spread.

Digging works, if you get the entire root. The plant fools you because once you remove the carrot-like white roots six or seven inches down you think you've got the whole thing. You don't -- the root near the surface is often connected by a thin white strand to a large parent root deeper down. Any small piece of root left behind will result in a new plant.

Spring is a good time to try to dig the plants out. Dig out as much as you can. Then watch for resprouting and baby plants and immediately spray the leaves with glyphosate (the most common brand of this herbicide is Roundup). While creeping bellflower is resistant to many kinds of herbicides, the youngest and smallest plants seem susceptible to glyphosate.

Chemical treatment is most effective now and in the fall. With glyphosate you should spray, wait (the plants often don't show damage right away) and if after a couple of weeks the plants still look strong, spray again. Be careful; read the label before using. Glyphosate should be applied only to the plant you want to eliminate, it will kill any green plant.

Here's more information from the U and from a master gardener.

https://extension.umn.edu/weeds/creeping-bellflower

https://www.ramseymastergardeners.org/post/creeping-bellflower

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Your plan makes sense. Be careful using herbicide and make sure it gets only on the bellflower. If you use glyphosate it will be confined to the plant you’re trying to kill.

Don’t wait too long to plant the arborvitae. They should be in the ground before the end of September (I’d actually aim for the end of August) and watered until the ground freezes.

If you don’t think you can get them in the ground early enough postpone planting until next spring,

Good luck.