In article , David Wright wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jun 2003 17:32:44 GMT, c (Scott
Harper) wrote:


The other disappointing thing is that I bought these in 1 gal
containers a few years ago. So they were very small when I planted
them, and I've invested considerable time getting them to the state they
are in today. I'm not too crazy about having to start over...

scott

I have two small cenizos in the corner of my front yard that I knew
would eventually be too big for that space, but I plan to cut them
back from time to time, keeping to the natural shape as much as
possible. I see so many cenizos around town that have been whacked
into submission as hedges (shudder), and are still alive, that I can't
see a problem with occasional prudent pruning. Am I missing something?
IOW, why would you even have to think about starting over?

Well, like you, I don't want them whacked into a "hedge" shape. I
generally prune them back sorta natural, like you. Once a year is
starting to be too infrequent now. But I'd like it better if I didn't
have to prune them -- if they'd mature into their natural shape at the
size I want to keep them. These are getting so big now, that the
"undergrowth" of the branches is extremely bare, and there aren't many
medium size branches growing out that low. So if I really pruned them
back to the size I want, I'd basically have a stick tree. I suppose the
leaves would eventually come back, because like you say, they're chopped
back to nothing everywhere you look.


scott