Tina, I'm moving to Gainesville. Calm down, not leaving FL. Amber, I lived in Ruskin then Bradenton when I first moved to FL. I know all too well that it gets cold here. Even way down here in 9b, it's been a cold winter. I've lived in this house for 14 years, and only once in the first 12 did my jatrophas freeze. Last year they froze down to the ground, and luckily came back. This year, they have lost all their leaves, and will probably lose a good bit of the tops of their limbs. I'm glad I won't be here to have to clean up all the winter dead stuff this year!

Another four plus inches of rain in the last 48-hours. Our local FD weather station has recorded over 21" this month - it's just incredible. There hasn't really been a single dry day all month and most days are just drenched with heavy rains for hours on end. I've lived in the PNW for a long time and this is the wettest month I can remember. I'll have to pray the giant doug-firs behind my house hold on tight - a few of them are 100'+ and would go through my house like a knife to warm butter. Tom, no freezing here yet, many of the trees still have leaves - some are even green still as these warm storms bring 50 degree days on a regular basis. Coldest temp my weather station has recorded this fall is 35 degrees.

yes.. use the nuditity of the deciduous plants.. to your advantage ... at least until you are so experienced.. it doesnt matter ... [new word of the day.. lol] i am surprised .. as new as your plantings are.. that you are already contemplating pruning ... both here and in the tree forum ... just keep in mind.. severe topping can have a major impact on recent transplants ... they need those leaves/needles to grow the roots toward full establishment. .. which i am sure you already know ... a little nip and tuck.. guidance, one might say.. surely wont matter ... ken

Thanks everyone for the super-helpful suggestions, esp. regarding the availability of "High grafted dwarf flowering crab-apple trees" and the fact that "Peve Minaret Dwarf Bald Cypress" takes well to extensive shearing - and according to many elsewhere Bald Cypress often have "massive taproots". I think "Peve Minaret" would have been the perfect answer, but I found out that underneath the plant area a few inches is a random piece of misplaced curb granite taking up about 1/5 of the space, and then about another 8" down is dead tree root that seems to be at least 1' thick (drilled through it with a super-long drillbit). :-( So I ended up just taking some of the more massive rocks out of the soil, mixed the soil I excavated with the tree soil I put in a while back, added a bit of crushed granite for aeration, did a (perhaps overzealous) root pruning of the existing Emerald Green Arborvitae, and put it in a bottomless air-pot, then around 8" of in-pot soil, then around 8" of below-ground soil (at least now it's all the same kind of soil so perched water and rooting issues should be gone, at least in a larger area than before). I'll let y'all know how that goes in a few weeks... But there is another location I'll be working with this summer where Peve Minaret may be the answer; if so I'll post photos :-)