On 1/6/2010 11:18 AM, 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 have P. tobira on the side of my house. It will grow above the eaves.
About every 4-5 years, I renovate them by cutting them to about 2-3
feet. Even the bare branches will develop new shoots.

I cut mine in the spring. Because we do get some nighttime frosts, I
don't want to promote new, tender growth in the winter. As soon as I
have finished cutting, I give each plant a generous dose of
high-nitrogen fertilizer to push the new shoots.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary