Mine want to be five feet. I trim them back at least a foot a year to keep them at four feet. They might get to be six feet tall if I let them go, though. Renee

I've mostly gotten rid of my sunflower hedge as it was becoming wildly invasive. The Max's really took off here, apparently loving the clay. I interplanted Silphiums (rosin weed/compass plant), which weren't as bad, but they were thuggish after a few years. Their roots grow very deep. I've left some scattered clumps (aka "giving up"), but I'm watching them like a lazy distracted hawk. Johnny is disliking the Scotch thistle and fuller's teasle I have planted with Poncirus 'Flying Dragon'. Only the hardy bitter orange is perennial, but right now nobody with any sense is coming near that bed, which had a history until now of getting trampled. (We had someone light firecrackers on our porch, so next year the thistle and teasle will be growing near the windows. Johnny already put in cameras.) I've tried grasses, but only the Miscanthus species have done well. There again, one large clump of M. floridus is proving difficult to get rid of. Some is still growing, in mid-air, in the compost. I did plant some along with Arundo donax (giant reed) around the chicken run for shade, the hens can tear both of those up as much as they want. Ironweed (Vernonia) has been a good mixed hedge plant, it's not invasive here. I've had some tall asters do well too. The taller goldenrods have been something of a mistake as they reseed like crazy. Who knew goldenrod could be such a weed? ; ) I've been admiring my still young hedge along part of the back yard this year. I've mixed various elderberries with a butterfly bush, a chaste tree, one of the jujubes, two Decaisnea bushes (deadman's fingers), a short persimmon, and a serviceberry tree. It's coming along fairly well. The elderberries would be less manageable if we had more rain I think. I would have an Illinois Everbearing mulberry too if an otherwise cute groundhog hadn't eaten it. A hedge along part of the front is proving more difficult. I planted a dwarf oak to anchor one corner and hopefully the che fruit trees will continue to fill in part of that hedge. I'm still trying to get something else to fill some gaps (I'm still trying to find something that will LIVE, I don't lack for ideas). Another line of hedge is mostly cherry bushes and assorted other bushes with similar heights with tall flowers in between. Honestly, it looks like a big mess now. I'm thinking I may just go with mulch between the maturing bushes or one very short ground cover. Once the bushes get a few more years on them, it'll look less like a scraggly line of weed trees. We can grow rosemary here, but it never really gets all that large (the largest bush I've seen locally was maybe 3' tall). I think that or Russian sage would be gorgeous. Good luck with the Ceanothus, I keep hoping some brave gardener will try some around here. They do sound tricky. I bought an Osmanthus to try here, I figure it'll survive a mild winter. kent

My mockingbird took care of my dogwood fruit this year. I've seen bluebirds going after them in the past but didn't see a single one this year. Did you mean flowering or do they have red berries Glenda? I don't remember seeing them but if they're west of AB, I haven't been out that way lately. There are some shrubs on west Kearney almost to the airport that have LOTS of red berries on them. It's something the city/county planted beside the road. I thought they might be deciduous holly. They're really impressive. I have a red-berried aronia that holds its berries for quite awhile but not as long as nandina.

The ideal time is spring. However, if they are in the way you will have to do it now. And if you are having a problem with the taller, older stems flopping over, as they often do with this shrub (except compact or dwarf cultivars) you can make your plants look like they grew the way you want on their own by selectively cutting these tallest stems down low - and leaving the rest entirely or mostly alone.