Higgs Boson wrote:
At the back of my property , near a block wall giving on an alley, I
had some pittosporum put in, oh maybe 6-7 years ago? They have grown
very , very tall - maybe over 20 feet -- practically reaching the
phone/elec lines. Will this plant l take judicious topping, so it
will become bushier -- more of a privacy screen -- instead of tall &
skinny?

The landscaper's chart reads "pittosporum crassifolia", but when I
looked it up, it said only 8-10 ft. tall, but this is much more, so I
am somewhat confused.

In front of the pittosporum (away from brick wall, toward house)
there is Erica, which has also grown much taller than it's "supposed"
to. ??

This is So. Calif coastal.

TIA

Persephone

I don't know about all species of pitosporums but I have grown some
specimens of them in a number of situations. In my experience they will
take pruning and they will bush out afterwards. Cut them in winter and if
watered in spring and you will get a nice show of soft green new leaves.
However I don't get too religious about the timing, I do small trims at any
time and they cope.

I have had the same problem with trees and shrubs not growing to the
advertised size. Part of the problem is sometimes there is a wide variation
between the maximum size and the size expected in generally adequate
conditions and books may quote one or the other. Also it can be hard to
know for a given species if your conditions are merely adequate or better
than that.

David