i would 'rejuvenate' them as any shrub .... e.g. lilac, forsythia, spirea, etc ... try googling 'rejuvenating lilac' for more info ... i would remove the biggest branches now.. as close to the ground as possible .... this will cause new shoots to start from the ground in spring.... you really don't want to do it higher ... IMHO ... with the removal of the largest ... and no impact on the root system .. you will be amazed how fast the lost branches are replaced.. and regrow .... in summer or next fall .. i would remove the next 1/3 of the tall ones .... and then the next set the following spring .... in essence.. you are bonsai'ing the thing .. to return it to a less mature size ...... thereafter .... remove any branch that exceeds your height expectations .... you can shear it like a privet.. but IMHO .... it will be unnatural.. and ugly ... and become just a shell .... good luck ken

1. Leave the shortened culms alone. Even though they won't grow, their leaves will provide energy to the plant to help grow new culms. 2. If you are lucky, the new culms will fill in within a year. 3. Fire the gardener.

What have you decided to do with your hedge?

Hi Denise, wow that's an old plant. Actually it's in pretty good condition so there's no issue with "saving it", just how to manage it. You'll have to make it ugly to make it pretty again. Simplest thing to do is cut all the long stems coming out of the soil to about 3 inches above it. Leave alone any that are less than 6 inches long. All the bare stems will produce 2 to 3 plants each, so you'll have a VERY full pot in a few months. As far as all those long stems left over with leaves at the tips, they're a propagator's dream for a lot more plants. Must be a good couple of dozen tip cuttings if you want to propagate them, take off all leaves from the tip leaving 3 or so at the top, cut the stem to leave a 6 inch cutting that you'll put in water to root. If you're experienced in propagation with a medium like regular potting soil, a mix with perlite, or long fiber sphagnum moss, use that. Here are some more options and techniques. That big pot is probably full of roots, once you've cut the long stems away you could repot into a pot not more than 4 or 5 inches wider than the one it's in. That means 2 or so inches around the sides of the rootball when you place it inside. You could also unpot the plant and carefully (for your safety, not the plant) cut the rootball into sections with a large knife or even a hand saw. Depending on location of the stems in the rootball, either cut it like a cake into half or fourths, or locate several stems close together and cut around them. Keep doing the same until you have the rootball into sections with several stems each. Plant each section into an appropriately size pot. The stems can also be propagated to produce new plants. You can see 'sections' on stems indicated by a ring encircling them. Each section has a small bump, or node, which is a potential plant waiting to grow. I like to use 3 node cuttings laid sideways in a medium, cover leaving half to 1/4 of the stem showing. To plant upright, cut stems with 4 to 5 nodes, plant leaving half the stem showing above the soil. Make sure you plant the original bottom of the stem downwards, planting the top down won't work. If you're not sure after cutting, plant it sideways as above. When cutting a lot of stems, I cut the 'down end' on a slant and the 'up end' straight across so I can't make a mistake and forget which is up. I can't enlarge your pic enough to ID the variety of your aglaonema, the wide, dark green spot toward tops of leaves indicates it could be Moonlight Bay, but the rest of the leaf is different. I'd be interested in getting some of the leftover stems if you wouldn't mind sending. I can buy, pay postage or trade for plants from my collections. I'm sure you'll have more questions, post here or get back with me at bluesea14808@yahoo.com.