Thanks Greenman28. I'll post more pics as I do stuff to it. Paul3636, I have mine in a large pot too... I'm going to leave it for a while and make sure it's recovered from its uprooting... but I'm thinking of separating all three. I think the tree on the far left of pic #3 would make a nice Literati style. What do you guys think? I used Photoshop to try to show you what I had in mind... Of course the top will need some more work than just bending down and shortening. I may just trim out some smaller branches to thin out the top so more light gets in and I get more back budding. Do you have pics of yours Paul? here's my idea for the right tree

Sam: That's a big job and with no assurance of success. It could as easily kill the tree as turn out well. Yes, I'd leave a nurse limb. Maybe when you cut it back it will sprout out low. It would only take one sprout from the scion and you could make a tree out of it. Sounds easier to me to plant another tree with dwarf rootstock and known scion. I have an old Red Delicious apple that doesn't produce well but I keep it just because I like the way it looks.

Ok, two years ago planted a hedge of Green Gem boxwood. Planted them so they touched, they were already decent size at the time, maybe a little over 1 foot tall and wide. Big mistake. Huge. This year, they were not happy, had some browning either due to winter damage, retarded root growth, or lack of water. Take your pick, could be any reason, we neglected them last year due to other priorities. We also had them too close to the retaining wall, could have been root exposure. In any case, we were being impatient and planted them too close. We dug them up, a chore, but the burlap was still intact - the roots hadn't even established. We removed one from each row to allow more room for growth. We also added compost to the soil. Normally, I would not prune any plant at planting time, but these had so many dead branches because they were packed so tight, we had no choice. So, we trimmed them down to a low hedge. I would say, space them properly if you can, you will be rewarded in the long run. In my experience, in my zone, Boxwood have done fairly well for me as far as growth rate, and I have clay soil. I have some in shade, some in most full sun, and aside from my overpacked hedge, they've all done wonderfully. In other words, they will grow faster than you might expect. Ideally, in future years, it is appropriate to prune/hedge boxwood in mid june, no later than mid July to give them time to harden off before winter. Also boxwood like to go to sleep for the winter with wet feet - I run a soaker hose mid November - this is the last of the moisture they will receive. I protect mine from the sun with pine sprigs in the winter months, or burlap works fine, and I spray them with wilt pruf in November after watering to help the foliage retain moisture. I have Green Velvet - love it, nice mound shape. Green Gems are more compact, they have done well for me. I also have green mountain, takes to shearing/hedging well, but will also grow into a nice upright form if left to grow naturally. My Green Velvet, on the north face of my home reached a nice mature height going on the fourth year - BEAUTIFUL. I have planted two more, for a set of three. Love them. Water daily for the first two weeks after transplanting, then weekly until well established, for the first two years.

I'm no expert, but I'll tell what I did with the neglected boxwood hedge and stand-alones that came with my house when I moved in five years ago. The first job was cleaning out about 10 years' worth of dead leaves that so completely clogged the bushes, top to bottom, that literally no light or air could get through. Just getting some air circulating and letting light in went a long way toward rejuvenation. I think the poor things had been suffocating for years! (Among the treasures I found buried in the hedge were silverware and a toy fire truck at least 18" long that had apparently been missing for years!) Next job was to do some cutting back. I did this in the spring, and continue to do it in the spring, mostly out of habit but also because I fear stimulating new green growth in the fall that will get zapped by freezes and snow. The 'cutting back' is actually done by hand, literally snapping off 4-6" branches all over the hedge by hand to give it some shape. (I have a neighbor who lives and breathes boxwood who threatens to faint dead away if I ever go near mine with a pair of clippers. I guess if I want to kill him off, I'll wave a pair of secateurs in his face and head for my bushes!) I try to make the upper half of each shrub a little narrower than the bottom so that the bottom gets light. (It's tempting to do the opposite, to keep the top fuller than the bottom, but it's healthier the other way.) By doing so, you help to avoid having the bottom and interior of the shrubs basically die off for lack of light and air. This is a time-consuming, but in some ways pleasantly-mindless job. I only do it really thoroughly every other spring, however; the years in between I settle for a little bit of shaping, just snapping off the really straggly long branches. I prefer a more 'natural' shape to the hedge, which the snapping-by-hand encourages, if only because you get too tired to even consider trying to make a 'perfect' shape! Every spring, on the heels of the shaping, I spread well-aged chicken manure under the whole 50' long hedge. Warning: even though it is well-aged, the odor can be a little ferocious until rain or watering dilutes it. Chicken manure is apparently just the yummy level of acidity that boxwood thrive on. I buy a couple of bags at my local Southern States ag supply store. I also make a point after really heavy snowfalls to go out and GENTLY, with a broom, knock a lot of the snow off the branches, especially if I can see that they're really drooping under the weight of the snow. If you're tackling a big hedge, or just really overgrown boxwood, you might want to divide the job up a little so you don't feel overwhelmed. Cut it back a certain amount this year; feed it; see how it improves. Then cut it back more the following year, to the shape and size you really want. My two cents'! Others will probably have more experience and expertise to offer. Good luck!