I have just come here from New Zealand. I can assure you lonicera is the perfect topiary plant for you in your climate conditons - in the Waikato I had to trim my lonicera topiaries regularly with electric hedgetrimmers to keep mine under control in my traditional potager garden where they enjoyed well-manured soil. They are just so marvellously vigorous. I had some in pots and some in the ground. The ones in pots need careful attention as they are such gross feeders, and really regular watering. I used slow release fertiliser (Osmakote granules) and I also used to feed them regularly with worm tea (Of course you do have a worm farm, don't you!!) About standardising - I find it really helps if you do not pinch out all of the side shoots up the stem while you are growing it to the desired height. If you leave some it helps to strengthen the stem and make it really sturdy. In New Zealand's windy climate, you MUST plant a stake, as high as the eventual finished stem height, next to the stem and tie the stem into it at intervals to keep it growing straight (don't strangle your growing stem though-I found nylon panty-hose strips perfect because they have some 'give' but are virtually indestructible...I always had a handful in the pocket of my gardening shirt.) Then just keep an eye on it, nipping out most of the side shoots as you wait for it to attain its final height. Then start allowing the shoots to bush out, nipping them out as Brian describes, until you have a nice full shape. then you can nip out your leading shoot as well. There are lots of NZ natives which can be topiarised too, I had success with kowhai, pittosporums, and was starting on hybrid manuka, even fuchsia. Buxus is great of course but even in NZ is a bit slower growing than lonicera - but if it's fed well and watered regularly it grows at 3 times the rate in the UK. And grows so easily from cuttings it's almost embarrassing! So of course does lonicera - when I did a trim session I always used to plunge a few slips into the ground in a shady spot so I had plenty of new littlies coming on - they make fabulous gifts.I am looking forward to getting started here - once I get my head around the different climate requirements which I know will make a great difference to the rate at which things mature... by the way buxus can die off very suddenly and leave you disappointed after years of work; at least with lonicera the time scale is considerably reduced bearing in mind though that lonicera is not such a long-loved plant).

I saw plenty of kowhai down in Waimate and further south in Kingston on Lake Wakatipu. Gets pretty cold down south in the winter. Depends how far south you are in Ga and how protected the location is that you plan to plant into. Perhaps you could leave it as a container plant, move it to a protected south side location for the winter, and sink the pot into the ground. I know that against the south side of my house up here in zone 5 it is a lot warmer and I can grow plants there that just won't survive out in the open. I would give it plenty of mulch for the winter to protect the roots. Kowhai is so lovely that I would give it a try. Ever think of making it into a Bonzai Kowhai? I wonder if that could be done and then you could keep it in a container and bring it in during the winter months. Check over at the Bonzai forum - I presume there is such a thing on GardenWeb. Good luck! Cheers - Kiwi in Kalamazoo

Suggest you also use the Pacific Northwest forum on Garden Web - and, if you get contacts from gardengal48 - treasure them. She's a professional gardener in your area. Knows her stuff greatly. Are you inland or coastal where you are? Cool-ish with reasonable rainfall? Think about ferns such as Blechnum and, if you can get them, orchids such as Earina and Dendrobium. Maybe Microtis and Thelymitra. If it's drier in your haven - how about Libertia and Mazus radicans, Raoulia (the coastal one from round Wellington tolerates more damp than the 'vegetable sheep' variety), Clematis paniculata and other native Clematis, even Muehlenbeckia(!). Some of the pittosporums and Coprosmas should be fine. They grow in Tongariro National Park within the snow range and are hardy. You'd have to be careful with drainage, though. If you have any time to go up to Canada, into BC, take a trip to the Butchart gardens to see what will grow - even outdoors - in your area (give or take a few hundred miles!!) You might also look at Cordyline indivisa rather than australis. It gows fairly high in the hills and appreciates plenty of mist and rain. Bigger leaves than the lowlands cabbage tree. I have a vague memory that someone has introduced a dwarf version of toe toe. If you can't get it then have a look for some of the South Island tussock grasses - Chionochloa, along with Uncinia and the various carexes. They often blend well with driftwood, pebbles, and low Coprosma with tangly branches. Hope that gives you a few notions. Squirrels and bulbs - and mice and raccoons... Makes the possums seem like an asset! Big pots should work - with windbreak mesh tied over the top. Check out the bulbs forum, which is used to dealing with this 'critter problem'. There are lots of suggestions, and most are polite/practical.

The biggest problem would be getting the tree out of that cement border! First let me say that the soil around a piece of cement can become highly alkaline which the tree may not like. The cement 'ring' is probably why the tree never stabilized. A high percentage of a trees roots naturally grow outward near the surface of the ground. The ring could be confining the roots inside of a narrow 'shaft'. Depending on how deep the cement is. Trying to dig the tree out with the cement in place would be difficult to do without damaging the roots severely. So, as Embo eluded to, I would have the cement removed and then make a grassless area a few feet around the tree and cover that area with mulch, so the tree doesn't have to compete with that heavy sod, right up to the trunk. Or remove the cement, then you could have the tree moved with less damage to the trees roots and have a better chance that the tree will survive the ordeal.