Given that pollarding--the drastic, annual cutting back of branches to the main trunk--is employed on many woody plants, chances are that you could not kill or seriously injure this plant by cutting it back. That's not a guaranty ... just a prediction with high probabilities. But Spring is a better time to do serious cutting. Now, it'd be best to limit cutting to just what will solve the window-covering problem. (Hard cutting produces lots of tender replacement growth which is not what you want if potential freezing is just around the corner. Foliage needs some time to "harden off" before frosts.) In the springtime, everyone knows how foliage seems to suddenly burst out of dormant plants. Just before this happens is a great time to do major pruning. This allows a plant's stored energy to be put to best use ... growth where one wants it. In this case you might decide on the height you like. Determine (from past observation) how much height this plant will add when it takes the "leap" during the growing season. Deduct that amount from the desired height (in anticipation of new growth) and cut it there. If the plant is a rampant grower, this will be a drastic cut. If it's a modest grower, it will be a more reasonable amount. Part of this equation also depends on how many times a year you are willing to cut. Factor in height removed with the number of intervals of pruning. Cutting in ANTICIPATION of growth is my preference; it has some advantages over cutting in REACTION to growth. Chances are good that this is NOT a dwarf Lorapetalum (if indeed that's what it is) like you need, but instead, one of the big fatties that make nice, small trees. You might consider replacing it with something better suited, or get used to hard pruning or that which is constant and ongoing.

here is a link I hope works to MdS...she looks pink but is described somewhere as red. I would like her if she were not red or pink. I do love the vintage site. I have their list of purples in my favorites folder. as for bourbons, I have 2 zephy's and although they are growing like crazy, those who have zephy's felt she might not bloom here. (i'm not wild for her color, I got her cuz she is thornless...another quality I love). stefanb, CdR is on my wish list for sure. the color knocks me out. I looked again at the roses I got from uncommon rose just as they closed and I think 1 is a gallica (la belle sultane) and 1 is a moss (fara shimbo). I also got a chianti on sale at ashdown. so, I have 3 I can experiment with. has anyone measured the temperature difference between below ground and above ground. it wouldnt seem to be drastic would it? michelle Here is a link that might be useful: marchioness de salisbury

Well we are currently going thru all the things that you all trying to avoid! We were suppose to close on tomorrow (Friday 8/3) and were informed yesterday when we did our walk thru that we will not be closing. They are still working on my long punch list. That was the 4th time the closing date has been moved. The original date was 07/13, then 07/20, then 07/27 and of course tomorrow 08/03 which still won't happen. Now I have to go thru the hassle of rescheduling movers for furniture, appliances, etc. and reschedule our moving truck we had rented as well. I also had trades scheduled to come in and do painting, hardwood, carpets, etc. that we didn't choose to pay the builders' upcharge on. Now they will all have to be rescheduled as well. At this point we are over it so we can't do anything but sit back and wait. Going back thru and reading over the contract, they all are swayed towards the builder. They can be late, they can extend dates, etc. but if the homeowner does the language of the contract reads that we can be liable. Reading over our contract it states that when the builder is ready to close we supposedly can't delay closing or hold money in escrow if our punch list isn't done. If that is the case they will have to act on that because we don't plan on closing until everything is done. We have been right at this for a year now. Our house went on the market at the end of July 2011 and sold April 2012. We put a contract on new house August 2011, contingency was removed when we sold our house in Jan 2012. We broke ground in March 2012 and now it seems we can't close to get moved in so it has been a long up/down year to say the least. Hopefully it will all be done soon. Our saga continues.... Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

You have essentially two ways to maintain this plant arrangement: as a single hedge, where all the shrubs grow together into a single mass ... or as single shrubs, where each is separate from the other. Regardless of which design you choose, the consistent aspect of shrub trimming is that the base is trimmed wider than the top, so that sunlight reaches the lower foliage and it continues to live. (Where the back faces the house, it will be cut straight and not matter as it will not be seen.) If the top is wider than the base -- as is seen in the shrub at the left side of your house -- then lower foliage will eventually begin to die off and the shrub will assume the form of a tree, as if it were on little stilts. (See this beginning in the shrub, second from right, in your original picture.) In an individual shrub, trimming in a ball shape would be incorrect because it undercuts the base, shading it by the top. A dome shape would be correct because the base is wider (or no less wide) than any portion above it. That said, most landscape designers do not use a series of dome shapes in a line anywhere near as much as they would use a hedge, which is simpler to look at and simpler to maintain. The series of balls is usually the result of a homeowner thinking it is cute and maintaining what would have otherwise been a hedge, in that arrangement. After deciding between a single hedge or 4 individual shrubs, one would next decide on how this is best maintained: through regular, tight clippings designating the outer limits of the foliage ... or through annual coppicing, where all trunks of the shrub are cut to the ground. They quickly regrow with the final result looking simultaneously thick and bushy, and loose and natural. The problem for you using coppicing here is that all stems (trunks) grow out in a relatively uniform length. If they ended up nearly reaching the window bottom, they would also be nearly reaching the door.