Prunus x cistena. Looks like normal habit for this plant, "lanky" I would reserve for a plant that was alot taller and more open than these. Speaking of taller, P. x cistena grows much higher than these are now, if continuing to be happy they will eventually grow above windows.

If dwarf redleaf Japanese barberry kosher where you live (some eastern states list Berberis thunbergii as a weed, discourage or prohibit planting of it) that will be much more likely to produce the effect you are trying to get with this arrangement. B. thunbergii 'Atropurpurea Nana', crimson pygmy barberry is standard selection of this type but there are also newer ones on the market, with supposedly improved characteristics.

Thanks,
I have the barberry already just to the left in front of our porch & have wine & roses weigela (sp ?) just to the right, so just wanting something maybe different. I don't want the height......I keep cutting these back to try to fill them out & no luck !

Jennie

Yes, I can see in the photo you have been doing the equivalent of hedging the tops trying to produce a different growth pattern. You can get unnatural density with these by shearing the entire plant annually, nursery catalogs have had photos of solid-looking Prunus x cistena hedges for years--in order to promote this as a hedge plant. However, you have an informal planting so squared off shrubs would not fit in--already the pruning of the tops you are doing is becoming discordant. (Having the three of them in a straight line also does not conform to the rythym established by the curving bed shape, but that's another subject).

I tried for years to like a purple leaf sandcherry that I had planted in one of my beds in front of my house. It never happened. It just never really looked that good in my yard, so I finally took it out last month. Not that I'm recommending that you get rid of yours, I just wanted to let you know that you aren't the only one who isn't quite 'content' with them.

Well,
Don't want a squared off in a line look either. I want them as their own look , but , just full ! I will not bother with prunning so much & let them flow as long as I can get them to fill out. Will this ever be possible or am I losing a battle here ? I so, what to put in their place ?

Thanks,
Jennie

you need more of a zen approach .... be the bush ...

it will be what it will be ... it will NEVER be what you want it to be ... unless you are some bonsai master and willing to invest 20 years of pruning and training on it ...

if you accept that .. then you have no other choice but to find a plant that fits your requirements naturally ...

you just cant force a plant to be what it isnt going to be ... without a lot of hard work ...

frankly ... if you dont like them.. be done with them ... either move the out into the property .. or just kill them ...

out in the yard.. they may be fine.. just the way they are... but the problem here.. i think.. is that you have architectural issues that the plant is not fitting into ... and i personally dont think you can force a plant to fit those parameters .... so find one that does ....

one last thing.. having no preconception of your expectations... i really like the light airy feel of the plants against the house.. and the color match to the shudders ... you will be hard-pressed to find something else to fit in that perfectly .... a thicker bush might appear to massive .. and a taller bush would of course block the windows ... as i recall .. had you not pruned the sandcherries .. they grow in more of a spray-like form ... which would look even better to my eye ..

my point.. if i have one.. lol .. is that you some some preconceived notion in you minds eye.. and you are frustrated that this plant will not fit into it.. either accept it for what it is ... or find something else .. no one ever said you have to suffer with a plant that doesnt please you ...

good luck

ken

I have some out in the middle of my yard in sun and have left them alone. Mine seem to be forming more of a small tree shape than a bushy shrub. Here's a photo of one this spring that bloomed heavily. I have another that has a single trunk (around 8 feet tall) and it looks like this one would be easy to prune into a "tree".
{{gwi:268624}}
However, as Bboy said, they're sold sometimes as hedges so you'd think they'd be more bushy at the base.
I decided to cut one of mine down last year that was in a bad spot and have had quite a bit of new growth coming up around the base of the trunk and I just keep breaking it off. If you've completely given up on yours, you might want to try a drastic cutback as a last resort.
They smell wonderful when they're blooming and I do like the color with your house.

Thank you all so much. We have done all the landscaping (minus sidewalk & wall.....pond yes) & I have been happy with it , but , just thought my choice on the sandcherry was not so good. I picked for the color & do love the color & blooms ! I just thought since they were a shrub, they would be bushy ! I guess I could try cutting all of them to the ground each spring & see what happens. I don't want to move, kill, etc , but , just trying to see if it was too early yet for them to be bushy, would they ever be, or what I could do to help them be ? Now, I'm finding out answers ! Glad to hear some of you like them by the house. If you see in the next few pics though.....I have everything filling in nicely after 2 yrs. here (planted small things) , but , look at the bare sandcherries & I just feel the backdrop should be fuller.

Thanks,
Jennie

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:268619}}

Here's the sandcherry view !

Oh, how do you just post a pic right on the post without using a link to show ? I want the pic to show right up for you to view like christie_sw_mo did ?

Thanks,
Jennie

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:268622}}

in photobucket.. COPY the TAG line.. and PASTE it into a forum post and add all the words you want ... when you hit preview .. the picture will show... if you dont see it .... we wont ... add one picture.. hit return a couple times.. paste another TAG line.. and you will have 2 pix ... etc ...

you have done an incredible job on the house ... if i were to suggest anything ... you need some vertical features ..

i like Thuja occidentalis 'DeGroot's Spire' ... one foot wide when 8 feet tall.. nice emerald green .... google it.. and hit the images button ... should be just fine for zone 5 ....

here is a picture of one of mine... note the ballpoint pen:
{{gwi:268626}}

a couple of babies in the nursery .... they grow about a foot a year AFTER getting established....
{{gwi:268628}}

good luck

ken

Do your Sand Cherries get full sun ?

I've seen these get fuller, but only at a much larger size ... say 6' tall or so.

I've got a nice one about 15' tall at the corner of my house.

Ken Adrian,
I like the tree in behide the one you are talking about better. What kind is it ?

The sandcherries get good morning to late afternoon sun.

Jennie

Ok......trying to post a pic. If you look close, I do a a albreta (sp I know) spruce curly tree right next to the right side of our garage facing the front. So I do have 1 vertical object if it ever grows !

Jennie

{{gwi:268630}}

Thanks for the posting the pic tip !!! I have been wanting to know how to do that on this forum 4-ever & you have been the first person to tell & help me. T-H-A-N-K-S M-U-C-H !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jennie

Jennie, your house and garden are beautiful.
Give your sandcherries some more time. Two years is not enough for them to show their potential. Could be next year, maybe 3 more years.
What did you plant in front of them? I can't quite make it out.

Thanks for the comments !!!

Loretta,
They are Little Princeness Spyria (sp?)

Jennie

Hi there

I've had 2 purple leaf sandcherries for at least 5 years and they've never impressed me much. They took so long to just GROW. But this spring, one was beautiful - filled out and gorgeous wine coloured leaves and pink flowers. the other one, for some reason, while a beautiful colour, is still a runt. Both get part sun. I wonder if they just take a long time to get going?

I have had sandcherries for about 10 years now. Yours are too close to the house. Take it from me. I had to dig mine up and move them at least 4.5 feet from the house. They get to be very big shrubs. Mine have grown nearly 3 feet in one year after a moderate trimming. I noticed this because they are right out my diningroom window. SC are nice but I didn't plant any at the new house we are building- they get eaten by everything and rain knocks the branches to the ground.

behind the de groots is a larix decidua/kaempferi 'Pendula' ... they are mixed up in the trade ... SEARCH teh conifer forum for many discussions regarding both ....

being true pendula.. they basically grow on the ground... unless you train them up .. as far as you want... so you would have the poles there for years .... hit the link for more pix and thoughts...

good luck ... ken

Here is a link that might be useful: more pix here

Maybe it just needs time. All I do to mine each spring is cut it straight accross the top. I had read that was good to do or they would eventually split in the middle - topping it is supposed to promote branching and it seems to work. Here is mine (center) in June

{{gwi:268632}}

Thanks for the pic !!

Yours look so good & your gardens & house .....WOW !!! Very pretty !! I will leave mine in & keep pruning & hope they will look as nice as yours someday !

Thanks,
Jennie

FYI - here is what I had found on the internet when I first planted it and wanted to know how to prune it:
"the upright oval, strongly ascending, and sparsely-branced growth habit at youth gives way to a spreading growth habit with arching, heavy, densly twiggy branches at maturity, that creates an open center unless pruning and shearing have already occurred"

So, I do top mine off in early spring and it recovers by summer as you can see by the picture. The island was planted in 2000 - so mine is 6 years old. I did notice a couple of suckers from mine this year for the first time. I don't know what it is about my island planting, though - everything wants to take over so I usually have to pull out some coreopsis, artemisia and this year the anemone is really aggressive. Yet I can't grow a daylily there. Very odd.

I think your landscaping is very pretty. I think as they mature they will be nice.

One last comment though - the ones you have in front of the window....Mine is over 6' tall now and I've seen some around here that look like trees. It would take a lot of pruning to maintain the short height there.

Jennie, you really must say what kind of tree it is you have planted with orange foliage. It really adds contrast.

Mollymaples, there is plenty posted here about the orange tree...

Here is a link that might be useful: Is this normal for a Sango Kaku & what about bottom of trunk.

This post has been on my mind since it was originally posted. My two are essentially the same size and same house to shrub spacing as Jennie's. Mine have room to grow up but they are only a couple of feet from the house. I too like the color against my house color. I can either prune the limbs close to the house so its not really a round shrub but more of a fan (don't know how smart that would be but I could experiement and replace later if it doesn't work) or
Would a Ninebark be better size wise?

Ninebark Diabolo will need a space of 7-8' in diameter.
At least.