i would differentiate between shearing.. like you might a boxwood or privet ..

as compared to hand pruning with good pruning shears ...

it looks like it has grown at least a foot this year.. and summer is barely half over ... in my world.. its much to aggressive a grower for that spot ... i would move it ... as its already on the house.. and soon to be thru the railing ...

unless you will just enjoy pruning it once or twice per year ...

anything can be hand pruned.. its the basis of topiary ... its just whether you want to work that hard on it ...

ken

LOL, Ken. I always know how your replies are going to start... "Wrong plant, grows too fast, better move it!" Virtually everything I have on the property (OK not the boxwood) is wrong for where it was planted. I only wish I had you guys guiding me before these plants were stuck in the ground! Well there's always time for that if I want to rip things out I guess. Maybe I should have gone for plastic shrubs instead!

I understand your point about pruning vs shearing. Thanks for the comments!

Oh, I forgot: So I can prune back this holly (Yes, Dave, it is Dragon Lady) most any time of year, and I can prune it back as much (within reason) as needed? With the blue spruce I understand that I will not get new growth if I cut back the entire new candle, so I have to live with at least some growth every year. But, with the holly, I can cut back more than this year's growth and still be OK, right?

when you hang with a bunch of tree huggers.. there has to be one voice out in the wilderness ...

and to be sure.. i wasted a lot of money and plants.. learning about proper spacing.. and ending up.. just having to suck it up.. and kill my mistakes.. and usually the prior owners mistakes ..

get a good pair of hand shears .. i like felco's .... and see what you can do with it over the years ...

just be sure.. soon enough.. you will get old and not want to be messing with it all the time ... and find that removal solves things ...

and never forget.. there's a lot of lurkers.. who need to hear what i offer ...

good luck with your garden...

ken

So out of curiosity, what do you think a better choice for a location like this would be, given that it is kind of a nook in between some stairs and a wall (south facing, northern NJ). What would be a good, slow growing choice? Edit: I did just notice in the conifer forum that someone asked the exact same question about recommendations in a tight space.

Oh, and it's good to know I am going to grow old and feeble, and then presumably die shortly thereafter, and sooner than I expect! I can sleep well tonight with those thoughts! :o)