My mother in law had one which had grown up through her arbor by about two feet. After her death I pruned the bottle brush way down to replace the damage to the arbor. The plant became fuller and much better behaved. We have one here that was planted about 30 years before the killing frost of 1990 that killed it to the ground. It took two years to reappear but quickly grew back to its former size. I have not noticed anything delicate about Callistemon. Al

I try to train mine to be thin and weeping. I love that.
Is it the shrubby variety or the weepy variety? There's a shrubby variety on our chain link fence that the neighbor's gardener shears like a hedge, and it grows very thick.
Renee

Its the weeping variety. I have a Little John also and it is very dense.
I can't even get close to it today cuz the orioles are around. :)

The Little John is a great selection and fits most gardens a lot better. Too many nurseries do not offer it. Al