I think the Parrotia Vanessa get to big. From what I read, they will reach 8'. I really want something that will be smaller than the Viburnum. I am trying to go in decending height - the large trees behind, then the Viburnum, then shorter shrubs. There will then be some grass and and raised bed (then more grass, then the street). The raised bed will probably have a small tree, a few small evergreens and perennials.

I can only speak for the native ones. The most upright ones in my area are V. rufidulum and V. prunifolium. They can easily be considered small trees. As for berries, the V. dentatum ones disappear the fastest but the V. nudum ones are popular too. V. acerifolium ones stay on the longest ... but I just saw a robin snacking on them the other day.

Ramblings. Usually when you prune a large bush in to a small tree you don't shorten it by a third. Some plants lend themselves to this treatment better than others. Yours have multiple stems which makes it quite difficult to do at this stage of the game and have them look decent. They will sprout a lot from the base next Spring detracting from the 'tree look'. They're going to look butchered all winter long if you prune them now the way you want. I would give them a light shearing if at all. Who said you should wait until March? Maybe their reasoning was the butcher job won't look bad as long, because of the new growth sprouting then. I have the feeling you are going to do what you want to do no matter what we say. It's safe to do now, but as Dan Staley said, you are putting yourself up for a lot of continuing work over the years to maintain and a whack job all winter. Go for it and show us what you come up with.

Well, with this being a shrub, will it ever get to the point where it puts less energy into creating lower growth and putting more energy into top growth? I know these are a 'little' close, but there is a reason. Time to ramble. The very first plants I got when we moved here were three Pygmy Date Palms. It was June and the area was already in Full Sun, so I, being new to Florida, thought that the palms were perfect choices and this was the perfect place for them. Come October, I realized that the shade was getting closer and closer to hitting the Pygmies. I also had read up on them by now and realized that as popular as they were in the big box stores, they weren't very cold hardy. With only 4 months under my gardening belt, I already knew that going into shade and on the north side of my house, they would be dead in one winter. So I had to transplant them. I spent pretty much the next year researching which plants would handle the shift from cold and shady to hot and sunny and the list was very small. I finally had settled on Walter's Viburnum and went to a local nursery to get two. It didn't take long before I realized that these were not Walter's Viburnums (like the nurseryman insisted they were) but were Sweet Viburnums. I did some reading on these and found out that they respond well to pruning and tend to behave. So I would be able to prune them and keep them away from the walls. I have since then seen many tightly pruned Sweet Viburnums as well as some not-so-tightly pruned ones. During the year in which these 'slept', I kept reading and digging up various information on all things gardening, landscaping and some horticulture. During this time is when I went down to my county's Extension Office and got to see their demonstration gardens. As demonstration gardens go, it is far better than the ones in my neighboring counties. At the demonstration gardens, not only did I see the ones pruned up to provide border shade for the Tropical Area, but I saw a pair of multi-trunked Pineapple Guavas also limbed up to create a living arch. I would love to copy that look, but I am on a rental lot and it just isn't big enough to support such a display. I also got to see actual Walter's Viburnums... is it wrong that I'm kind of glad that nursery is no longer open? When I got home, I looked at my two 'sleeping' shrubs and envisioned them limbed up with a similar manner to the guavas. While they wouldn't have the same effect, they could create a wide, narrow arch against that side of the house with enough pruning. At least I told myself that. They also wouldn't spread enough to completely cover the space between them, but it should be enough to give me a part-shade area. Limbs growing toward the house have been a concern of mine, but I keep an eye on them and if one starts in that direction, I snip it, encouraging a more east/west spread of the limbs. If the Viburnums ever top the roof-line while I'm here, I will start allowing them to arch over. But for now I allow them to grow in any direction but toward the house. Sweet Viburnums are very popular here in Florida (and probably other southern states). Partly because they can quickly create a privacy hedge, partly because of how they handle pruning and partly because they're just about bulletproof. After the few Tropical Storms and 'weak' Hurricanes I have endured down here, I have never seen a broken Sweet Viburnum limb, not unless something else fell on it. So I am not really worried about northern winds pushing them into the house. So there you go. I know they're a little close, but I've taken it into consideration and am trying to take steps to make sure they don't become an issue. Maybe not the smartest idea, but don't we all take a little risk here and there? Oh and my property line stops about 2 ft in front of the shrubs, so there wasn't much more room for me to move them. A sweet Viburnum up the street from showing how tightly they can be pruned. Not how I would have pruned it, but the previous maintenance guy loved to turn every shrub and tree into a chicken drumstick for some reason. (Oh, and Wiscontitom, that bright, healthy oak behind it has both Ball Moss and Spanish Moss in it. :) And older picture of the Pineapple Guava arch.