I'm sorry to hear and see the flopping, but otherwise these are very healthy for being in-ground only a year! Typical issue, especially with young VS.

The name of the game is getting these to look better over several years - everyone deals with it. Stalks growing from near the ground are actually good, as you can use these to build plant structure.

Try trimming White Moth back to about 2-3' in diameter right before it's about to drop its leaves this Fall. For the VS, in early Spring trim them back to about 2x2' and get rid of any branches that are super skinny (like 1/4" or less).

As these paniculatas are "tree hydrangea", any old wood you leave should get a little thicker each year. Thus, new wood that grows from it will also be thicker and more likely to hold up the weight of blooms. The blooms themselves will also become a bit larger, as they are almost always proportionate to the thickness of the stem they're growing on.

Would I do that same thing every year? (probably a dumb question). I ask because I spaced them and planned for them to be 5' diameter and about 5-6' tall (to stop just under my windows).

Or would I just do this until the new growth comes in stronger and them trim them to the desired size?

Go with your second paragraph. As they get a little larger, you can prune "just for tidiness" and also expand your pruning diameter. After pruning, the new growth will shoot out at least 1-3' per year from where you pruned, every year!

You can also see easily see bud nodes on each branch. You would obviously trim just above a healthy looking bud node.

There are also many YouTube videos on pruning paniculatas, most of which show gardeners and gurus leaving their spent blooms on all winter and then picking branches to trim back or get rid of.

Ok, so I need to adopt a longer term vision then. I'm glad to hear that patience will win out for my vision, that and some pruning:) I just had my heart broke on the tree forum regarding my Crepe Myrtles, so at least there was some good news for my budding horticulturalism!

They look to me to be quite healthy, but somewhat too close to the house. IME these are vigorously growing plants (as SW-G noted above 1'-3' every year) so you will be doing a lot of pruning, cutting every branch on each of those 9 plants annually. I try to leave about 2' empty next to the house so I can do any needed maintenance, and then enough distance for half of the ultimate width of the plant when I am figuring where to put the center of the plant. Yours look to be only about 3' from the house, though that may just be the photo angle.

Otherwise, they are a great choice of plant, but most woody plants need 3-5 years to really start looking their best. One of the things gardening tries to teach us is patience . . . as SW-G said (and you will see many comments if your search this forum for Vanilla Strawberry) it tends to be a bit floppy for the first few years until the branch diameter is large enough to support the blooms.

When you are standing there in spring, pruners in hand, terrified of making the first cut,, write to us for encouragement. Many of us have to get over the hard (cutting back a lot,)pruning fear.

Then there we who pruned back the hydrangeas that bloomed on "old wood" (wood with buds that formed the previous summer) and wondered why we never had a bloom.

I think it is great that as a beginner gardener you had a vision and the will to carry it out. I'm glad you started with shrubs. Hear me .....if you want trees on your property buy and plant this fall. So many gardeners wait to buy trees They seem like a big expense compared to a $10 buck perennial. They don't offer the immediate rewards of a flowering plant. Yet they take the longest to grow and offer tremendous satisfaction (and shade) over a much longer time than "flowers." And unlike "flowers" there are trees that offer 4 seasons of interest: flowers, foliage, form, and bark. No annual or perennial can do that!

Im sure you know you are lucky to have mature trees on your property. Composted leaf mold is the best mulch!

Yes, we value those trees a lot. I'm sad because I have to lop off a large section off one to protect the house, as a significant portion of it hangs over the entire back half of the residence. Still, those trees definitely help create a very nice park-like setting in our back yard.