Hi - No experience to report yet - just planted an Hp - a 2010 intro called *Tickled Pink* claimed to be a compact 5x5 though wider than your requirements ... perhaps more experienced Hp growers can input on pruning to size possibilities. This cultivar is a creation Of Dr. Dirr, grown & marketed by Bailey's of MN ... got it for the *compact* claim! (7 other Paniculatas are the larger ones). I agree w/ laceyvail - Oakleaf may need some protection in our similar zone & woods are a bit brittle (my Pee Wee split in half due to piled snow). For a front garden bed Hp's blooms offer Winter interests! I have 3 Oakleaf Hs & have been lightly protecting these past 3 yrs, 'til fully grown (did not bloom last year) ... but they are in the backyd ... awesome Fall-foliage-colors! Hope it helps & Good luck on your choice!

While it's not entirely common with paniculatas (it is with oakleafs), holding old foliage through winter can happen, especially in a location that is out of the wind or otherwise sheltered. No big deal :-) The old leaves will fall off when the new leaves emerge. Plants that have not been in the ground very long - a season or two - are very easily transplanted. Best to do so while they are still pretty much dormant. I'd plan on as soon as your soil is workable. I'll leave someone in a colder zone to address the 'Blue Billows' question :-)

If it's only been in the ground 2 weeks, give the poor thing a break!! Growth does not happen overnight. Newly planted shrubs and trees will take a season or two to settle in and develop a healthy root system before putting out much in the way of noticeable top growth. 'Pee Wee' should top out at about 4 feet and perhaps somewhat wider but it is most commonly seen in around a 3'x3' size range. All its parts are scaled down from a full size oakleaf, which can easily reach 8 feet unpruned and half again as wide. BTW, all oakleaf hydrangeas have white flowers although they may age to a soft rosy pink.

Thanks Luis. I wasn't clear in my earlier posts. The pea gravel was a somewhat failed attempt at xeroscaping my north facing somewhat shady side yard. It was in reaction to overgrown jasmine that had invaded from my neighbor's yard. That "before" picture was after I had already trimmed several feet of it away. When I bought the house the vines had actually grown into the AC units! You couldn't even walk back there. So I ripped it all out and xeroscaped. It looks much cleaner, but also looks sterile. The stones are also hard to walk on and it's very difficult to get my lawn mower back there. So, we're redoing it again. This time we're going to rake back the pea gravel, lay a flag stone path around the side, then put pea gravel in between the stones. I have a new project elsewhere for the extra leftover pea gravel. It's much easier to walk on the path in the backyard with the flagstones in place. Then while we're doing this I'm going to put in a raised bed planter on the right side of picture one, about 4 or 5 feet wide. I'm definitely leaving planty of room to access the heat pumps. I'm going to raise this bed up at least 6" and fill it with locally made potting soil. The perimeter of the raised bed will be made with matching flagstones so it will look something like this picture from the web (not my house and I didn't take this picture). I wasn't planning on using pea gravel for the "mulch". It gets so hot here it would literally cook the roots. I tend to like pine straw for my mulch. Not as long lived as pine bark, but I like the look and I have been told that it doesn't attract termites. It's also easy to remove when it breaks down and replace with new. Acidifies the soil too which is important here, because my stucco concrete block house releases alkaline material into the dirt. I need to do this twice a year, but it's cost prohibitive, so I only do it once a year. It takes over 300 bales to do my yard! I'm worried that they may not get enough light in this location. Does anyone have any opinions on this? Can I really get by with just 3 Munchkins for 17' of bed? My wallet will thank me if this is so. How many years will it take for them to fill in this space? Thanks again everyone!