It's Box - Buxus. It can take hard pruning. If branches snap when bent they are dead. It roots easily from cuttings if you want to have a safety net while you renovate this old specimen.

Probably a burning bush. Cut down to low stumps at end of winter. Do not prune again until some years of re-growth has resulted in size being more than you want, then repeat procedure. This way an attractive natural shape (above the stumps) can be maintained between renovations.

I have a very large, very tall podocarpus gracillior hedge which is evergreen, doesn't tear up concrete or pools, isn't bothered by pests or disease and provides great screening from 2-story neighbors. The downside? It's a maintenance chore. We recently had to have a portion removed for reasons unrelated to the plant itself. We replaced that section with a staggered planting of a variety of different evergreen narrow-growing smallish trees (to about 20 feet) with differing sized leaves, growing habits (upright vs. weeping) and color (green, blue-gray, burgundy). Even though this portion is still small, it is infinitely more interesting, natural-looking and will not require the constant trimming like what I not-so-affectionately refer to as Hedgezilla. I agree with Wanda, the pittosporum tenufolium is a great plant. I've seen it grown as a very loose, not-heavily-clipped-or-shaped screen. Very nice. We included a couple of p. nigricans (a darker, greener version of the popular "Silver Sheen") into our new staggered planting. Hey, what's up with not being able to post links to pix anymore? That's a drag. Here's a link you can paste into your browser to take a look at a picture of Hedgezilla I took about a year ago. http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc249/surfcitytoo/?action=view¤t=Hedgezilla.jpg

Thank you! I found the purple/pink one available at logees. I might just order this for my parents.