We fell for those photos and planted 1 gallon dwarf yaupons in front of windows only 2 ft above the slab. They wanted to max out at about 4 x 4 ft in these east facing beds by 8 or 9 years. We pruned them back to two feet over a couple seasons and they look nice, but foliage begins to thin near the base with age. Didn't try cutting them off at the base to rehab like boxwoods; anyone know if this works with dwarf yaupons?

We're thinking of either replacing or under planting with something short. One possible native alternative we've been trying in the back is autumn sage (salvia greggi). Our generic ones get pretty bare in winter, but a couple named cultivars seem to retain most of their leaves, at least in Dallas 8A. While here they never get as dense as yaupon, even in the summer, their flowers are at least a nice tradeoff. Would love to learn of other evergreen natives that hold to ~2 ft when mature.

Thanks bostedo. I think I'll go with the dwarf yaupons and just keep them trimmed when they get tall. And that is a good suggestion about the salvia greggii. That will look good with the yaupons.