I planted a Don Gillogly sapling about 6, maybe 7 years ago. I drove 400 miles to get it at an Orange County nursery, and bought another for a friend. Hers died, but mine lived and since we live only two blocks apart, I can't say why I had better success- I would guess because I practice benign neglect and don't water very often :) The tree was about 5 feet tall when I moved 4 years ago and I returned to my house in Cupertino, CA in March of this year to find my avocado tree had grown considerably and had fruit. The tree is about 12 feet high, so it is either going to stay relatively short or it's going to grow very slowly. The fruit is absolutely wonderful- no strings, a true avocado flavor, not watery flesh, buttery and rich and about 7 inches long. A weird thing about the fruit- they have a channel, like a skinny conical envelope from the seed to the stem. The tree now has a second crop for this year. My tree has spread horizontally (maybe 10 feet from left to right) so it seems like a tall bush in some ways. It is near my house and may get a little protection from cold and wind because of that, but our winters get into the low 30s at night and the tree has done well without any special care or fertilization. When I came back this year, I did throw some avocado fertilizer on the ground under the tree. I'm very happy I planted it.

I agree with shadygrove, while 'true' suffruticosa potentialy could be a large shrub (say 5x5 or taller) it's not going to happen in your life time and your kids either. Count on 2-3" growth per year and clipping when needed. 45-50 plants per 80' will give you a good hedge appearance right from the start. One suggestion though, if you are looking for the formal hedge, you may want to put aside a few plants (5-6) and plant them somewhere else, but in a similar lighting conditions. If something happen with one-two-three members of your hedge you might have a problem to find an immediate substitute for them. By growing your own substitutes you making sure you always have an uninterrupted hedge.

Zeeth yes that is pretty fascinating but not normal. That palm looks 3 to 4 yrs old in the pic. Do you think its possible it stayed in the pot to long and then planted out ? Do you have from seed to present pics ? Would love to see that progression to see that fast growth in pictures. I have pushed palms with fertilizer and they grow fast but sometimes they have problems like trunk splitting later on. Given the way most people grow palms like fertilizing once A year "maybe" I doubt you would get that growth. I think the palm you have is exceptional for that amount of time.

I like to get my seeds from vendors that grew their plants in areas similar to mine, if possible (however, most places are pretty different). The reason I like to do this is acclimatization. If a plant gets used to growing in a greenhouse, or a vastly different region, it might take a few years of growing in your climate to get it acclimatized sufficiently. I think acclimatization to your own personal soil and water is as important as acclimatization to the climate, however. Seeds from my friend a couple miles away just don't grow the same in my soil. Even my neighbor's yard is different with seeds from the same seed packet. When I say they don't grow the same, I mean the production and taste is different. The plants can still seem healthy.