I'm going to try adding some photos... and I'm thinking the tree/shrub should be in the area where the rusted metal flower bird feeder stands. I do have a Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice' along with Wine and Roses Weigela. To the left of the photo (in the back corner) there are the blue muffin viburnums. I also have a pink Knock Out rose (mother's day gift) that is doing seemingly well. Am I wrong in thinking the bed needs something taller? The house sits so tall and it would be nice to have something that adds winter interest. I'm just not sure. I'm also used to plants/shrubs/trees growing very slowly but that is not the case here. I am terrible about remembering to give the plants some space to grow. I'm also thinking of moving out some Little Princess spirea that are located at the front of the bed. They're okay when they're in bloom but they're boring when not. I'm wondering what to replace them with (Magic Carpet spirea?). Any thoughts? Astrid

jmg1717, the ultimate choice to prune or not to prune is yours :-) Your post has garnered a number of differing opinions, including several from folks extremely familiar with growing these trees and their particular habits. With Japanese maples. most pruning decisions are going to be personal - there are simply no hard and fast rules about their pruning and all decisions should be made on a case by case basis. You seem to be assigning a lot of weight to the opinion of your landscape architect. I would just comment that because JM's do not develop a distinct leader, there is no apically dominant growth point in the tree, but all branch tips will share in apical growth. Removing the branch(s) in question will not necessarily cause the tree to grow taller faster but could very well produce increased overall growth of the canopy......there IS a difference :-) Also you want to be cautious with heavy pruning very late into the winter. Sap begins to move quite early with JM's and pruning after about mid-December may create a lot of bleeding. btw, although not necessarily obvious with this format, there are individuals that post here with some equally impressive credentials. Mike (miketann) is an extremely knowledgeable landscaper (now retired) with many years of experience and an entire personal "forest" of JM's :-) I too have a degree in horticulture and many years experience as a landscape designer and a nurseryperson. Just saying you are getting the benefit of a lot of years of professional experience on this forum as well.

Thank you everyone for all your inputs. I will look into the other trees that you guys have suggested. I guess I'm reaching for the stars having that combination of contradicting parameters--> strong structure that will grow fast and stay small. I suppose if I took out the tree swing requirement, that would open up a whole lot more choices as there are many rapid growing small trees available (will just have to make that swing some other way). One of the reasons I like the October Glory (my apologies for calling it Red October - I must have been thinking of the movie..) is it's beautiful autumn color. But I can't have a 50 foot tree on that spot. Among other things, I don't want to take out a big part of my next door neighbors view of the lake as well. Our houses are on top of a slope, so a 50-foot crown will be at about eye level and will directly block the view. So the search continues, but this time with a more doable set of parameters. I just want a rapid growing tree, under 30 ft. tall that will grace us with a beautiful color during the autumn months. And of course, disease resistant would help too. By the way, I am in western CT, region (6a).

mindshift's comments are very accurate - the spread of a tree's roots has little to nothing to do with its profile or canopy spread. If anything, the spread is more closely aligned with the height of the tree, but even that is not much of an accurate indication. The roots will spread as far as they need to in order to access nutrients and moisture from the soil. However, arborvitaes are not known for having aggressive roots. That's one reason they are often used in some very tight places and frequently immediately adjacent to structures. They are unlikely to lift or crack pool coping nor are they inclined to damage a structurally sound inground pool (or house foundation). And because they are a needled evergreen, they are not a bad choice for poolside planting, as litter is minimal. I have to chuckle a bit at the "giant" Emerald arborvitae. Nothing "giant" about this selection at all!! Generally will only grow to 12-15' in height........maybe as much as 20' over an extended period of time and in very good conditions. That is considered quite small in tree terms ;-) In fact, there is a current thread on another forum discussing why arborvitaes are described in most literature as shrubs rather than trees.