I guess first question is do you want it as a shrub or a tree? You can let its do its thing, and I'm sure it will mature and be gorgeous in time. It wants to be a shrubby-tree by nature. To keep it as a tree, it will need regular pruning. It can still end up tree-like and have a few trunks. Prune out completely one or two of those new stems. If you make any partial cuts, it will send out multiple branches at that point and they will flop and you will have a mess. Depending on your conditions, the first few years it will grow vigorously and send out lots of shoots. Then it seems to calm down a bit. At least thats what happened with mine. A friend of mine courageously made random cuts to the length and lots of flopping occurred. You may find the thread with pictures in this forum.

Would a trellis work there? Clematis can be quite filling over an area, without much space needed for horizontal branching. Planting a couple Clematis plants, that bloom in different parts of the summer, might keep the trellis flowering over a very long time period. Would give you plenty of area on the ground for planting other things. We have a bathroom window on the front of the house too. I got a stained glass panel (made it up myself) and fastened it over the lower half of window frame (about shoulder high on me), inside the house. Covers the whole window glass of lower window. Prevents any accidental "viewing" and lets in the light nicely. Looks very nice with the sun shining thru it, since window is on the western side. You could order a panel from a studio, if you don't do glass yourself. Any kind of design is available. I used opaque glass, made a panel of flowers. You also could add a roller shade, just pull it down when needed at night. I screw in the shade holders, never use the nails they come with. Tiny screws available at the hardware store, and easier on the woodwork, stay put well. Shade is easily covered with an airy valance over the window top. I like the look of windows with just a valance, not cluttered, lots of light available. However with our western sun on a hot day, the roller shade is nice to keep out the heat!

..this might be a weed or illegal to plant in some areas and it's new to us here... a hybrid of the Surinam Cherry... Eugenia 'Etna Fire'... I love it's summer foliage and has myrtle like flowers from August - December, then these cherries appear in Spring... I grow it in a container...it's hardy to -7 celsius apparently and survives here so far for 2 years... it's quite a vigorous grower when the weather warms up... From From RE: Let's Talk Trees and Shrubs! Posted by: Marlorena UK (My Page) on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 18:51 whoops...sorry folks.. something went wrong there... sincere apologies.... This post was edited by Marlorena on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 18:56 RE: Let's Talk Trees and Shrubs! Posted by: GreenHearted 5a IL (My Page) on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 13:13 Bellarosa ... as I expected. :( Thank you for confirming. Post a Follow-Up Your Name: Your Email Address: Zone (optional): Subject of Posting: Message: Optional Link URL: Name of the Link: A copy of further followups will be emailed to this poster. Return to the Perennials Forum This post was edited by Marlorena on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 18:56

I do want to add that the Seven sons flower that I mentioned above has never flowered, at least not a good show that I have ever seen good enough to notice since it is in mostly shade. I have a couple of Hazelnut shrubs, they've been planted here for about 5 years, the shrubs look great, but, I've never gotten any darn nuts from them, but, just for looks yeah, Hazelnut shrubs will do fine in shade. And I have "Japanese Rose" shrubs or "Kerria Japanica" shrubs, that will bloom yellow flowers in mid spring, they are easy plants to grow, they may need watered in the first year if you don't get much rain, but, after established, they are care free, they may even bear baby plant eventually if they like where they are. But, those Kerria Japonica shrubs will flower quite nicely in shade.