I'm sorry I wasn't clear...it was in the ground like 4 years. About 2 years ago I had to prune off the 2 center branches because they were broken. Nothing new came back after that. My concern is just that it isn't filled out. Kind of afraid to do any pruning because it might not come back. It has only been in the pot 1 day - I got tired of seeing the thinned plant in front of my house and replaced it with something else. It's just in the pot until I decide what to do with it. Just wondering if there's a way to get it to fill out in the center again.

i cant ID a plant.. from 10 or 15 feet away .. regardless ... you will know inside a month or two.. if it turns flame red ... invasive doenst necessarily mean.. its spawn only end up in your yard ... i have hundreds of seedlings from my neighbors plants .. every year ... if yours never colored.. then it probably isnt .. maybe the invasive privet.. lol ... get us a pic of the leaves with some stems.. and a scale ... perhaps a finger or something.. nothing fancy ... as a shrub guy.. you can do so much better.. for not much cost.. get rid of a plain old green plant.. and plant something new ... ken

February should be a fine time to plant most cold-hardy plants. We've moved and divided mature nandinas and other plants with great success at that time of year. .... make sure that you get the (abelia) cultivar that will best fit the space. Just emphasizing this recommendation from sylviatexas. Standard abelia x grandiflora wants to grow into an 8 ft+ shrub in our area, in spite of it often being listed with a "typical" height of 4-6 ft. They also want to be nearly as wide as they are tall. They are barely recognizable in some older foundation plantings where they are sheared tight with a hedge trimmer to keep them below the windows and/or soffits. This removes most of their flowers and much of their natural character. Better to control height by annually cutting up to a third of the tallest stems, but is effort that can be avoided (minimized?) by buying one of the many smaller cultivars now available that will more naturally fit the space. Suggest shopping for the best fit (and color) for your spot(s) even if the variety is not available until later in the year; they're tough plants as long as you give them extra water while they're getting established. I wouldn't have any reservations about planting a healthy one at any time where I could get a hose to it - even in August. Our Edward Gouchers reliably max out at about 5 ft.... other than a few "cowlicks" that are snipped off after the spring growth spurt.

There is always hope if the plant is still alive! Plants like the euonymus growing in containers will need attention a little more frequently than every 5 years :-) While this is not exactly an ideal time to do so, you definitely need to repot. And I'd do some root pruning as well - shave about 1/2-1 " of the rootball off all around and even bit more from the base. Need a good sharp knife or saw for this. Then repot with fresh potting soil (a good quality mix - not Miracle Gro). Add some controlled release fertilizer like Osmocote and water well. You don't really need a larger container necessarily, but it will extend the period slightly before you need to do this again. Plan on doing this about every three years, maybe every second year if staying with same size container.