The yellow leafed ‘Ogon’ winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata ‘Ogon’, below) seems determined to stay small, so sprawling from beneath a Chinese dogwood seems an ideal spot, where it gets some afternoon sunlight but doesn’t demand attention. Someday I’ll happily point it out, probably nearing the end of this decade, when the slow growing ‘Ogon’ has grown into a taller, but wide spreading shrub. By then, a few minor adjustments must be made to move neighbors out of the way, but fillers are necessary for now.

More typically, I underestimate the quickness of growth of trees and shrubs, and more than a few neighboring plants have been lost as I procrastinated in pruning or in transplanting neighbors to safety. This is months or years of neglect, but I doubt that ‘Ogon’ will surprise me. I’ll be overjoyed if in a few years I’m wishing it had been given more prominent positioning. Perhaps I’ll prune lower branches of the dogwood, but there’s a lot of time before anything must be done.