It's not a proposal I would necessarily endorse. Attempting to keep a plant significantly smaller than it wants to be is generally not considered an ideal situation. It does the plant no favors and flowering usually is unfavorably impacted.

I would suggest selecting whatever rhododendron varieties suitable for your area that naturally offer a compact growth habit - any of the yakushimanum hybrids would work and are listed as hardy to z5.

Alternatively, pick another type of shrub that offers a compact or slow growth habit.

I just purchased 5 "hinodegiri" Kurume Hybrid Azalea's.

They are dwarf and slow growing. There mature size is 3wx4h.

And it supposedly taked decades to get to that size.

You should look for some dwarf growing shrubs to keep in that area.

But if your heart is set on the rhodos and you dont mind the maintenance that i would say go for it.

Good Luck!

There are some rhododendron cultivars that have a mature size (10 year size) that you want and have large leaves. You just need to do some research to find the right one for you. Polarnacht and Yaku Princess are examples. The American Rhododendron Society webpage has a great search engine that will make it easy for you:

http://www.rhododendron.org/search_multi.htm

Just put in desired 10 year size, "elepidote", and color preferences. Best of luck to you!

I can't think of any reason why a combination of pinching and pruning would not accomplish exactly what you want. If you do it immediately after flowering, there will still be ample time for next year's flower buds to form on the current year's growth. You will probably find that this process will produce dense and bushy growth with potentially better flowering.

Starting with naturally smaller growing varieties hardy to Z5 is a good idea, as is concentrating on those with rhododendron yakushimanum as one of the parents. The Greer Gardens website, under "useful lists" has one with dwarf and slow growing types. The Whitney Gardens online catalog indicates size for all of the varieties listed. Rarefind Nursery does the same thing. Unless you are near an unusually well-stocked nursery, most of the best varieties for your purpose will have to be ordered by mail. This usually means small one or two gallon plants to begin with so it will be a few years before they approach the 3 foot limit.

One caution about planting near a solid barrier like a stone wall. Such barriers can actually increase wind speed and turbulence. Close to the barrier is usually safe, but just a few feet away can be a difficult spot for growing things. In any case, extra protection in the form of evergreen boughs, landscape fabric, burlap is a very good idea for at least the first two winters.