Yes, your 'hedge' will look great in a few years! Nellie R. Stevens starts out with an open growth, but eventually they'll fill in. They can take a lot of shearing too. Eventually the foliage right next to the fence will probably die from too little sun, but you'll have plenty on your side. You will probably need to remove/move the pear and peach. NR Stevens can eventually get 20 feet tall (or more) and 15 feet wide (or more). At least they can here on the East Coast. I would probably not prune them much until they get more size to them. You could, I suppose, clip some of the tips of the new growth (on sides) to encourage density without slowing down the growth too much. Don't prune leaders -- that's kind of obvious isn't it? But, if leaders are pruned the plants will eventually develope new leaders over time. Growth depends on soil, fertilizer, water, sunshine, general vigor of plants so I wouldn't speculate on size in X number of years. We're also trying to create a screen, but we are mixing up different varieties of trees/shrubs including Nellie Stevens, Oakleaf, & Koehneana hollies, Ligustrum japonicum, Viburnum, Cryptomeria, Magnolia, Live Oak, etc.

I keep mine natural too. I have one by a picket fence and another inbetween a standard white lilac and flame maple. Each of them are getting close to ten feet tall. My garden is more relaxed in style, so I don't prune things much. But I must repectfully disagree with the posters that said pruned forsythia does not look good. I saw a picture in a magazine with a old mansion that had an amazing forsythia hedge lining their walk-way. And look at this idea with forsythia... CMK Here is a link that might be useful:

perhaps .... just maybe .... you are way ahead of the curve ... planted in 2002 ... maybe well established by 2004 ... wait.. i just reread the facts ... a 12 to 15 foot tree.. may take more than a year or two to get 're-established' .... i find it hard to believe that in the following 4 years... any tree would need all that much pruning .... and therein lies your problem .... it just isn't growing fast enough for your pruning desires ... lol ... give it another 10 years.. to develop some structure... and maybe then it will need some pruning ... just keep up the good work with removing branches that are dead ... or crossing... or a threat to your eyes .... give it some general shape .... but keep in mind. structure is years or decades down the line .... on a recently transplanted tree ... and based on its size.... more leaves.. means more food... means more roots.. means faster re-establishment ... how long that takes on your specific trees is unknown ... you will know .... when they actually grow the estimated annual growth rate for that type of tree ... trees will do what trees will do.. on their own time frame ... if a tree can live a couple centuries ... or a hundred years ... the 6 years you have had yours.. is not really all that much time .... patience is your only option ... good luck ken PS: if you got a hankering for pruning.. and don't mind a road trip.. i always have way more pruning than i can actually get too .. lol

Thank you everyone, and especially those of you who have posted photos. I have been on a little hiatus because I had some minor surgery, and to be honest I forgot that I posted this! I truly understand what most of you mean when you say that you should not prune until the roses are about 3-4 years old, I know they need their energy stores, I know that they have awkward teenage stages (hey, who doesn't?). The thing is that most of the ones I am having troubles with are Austins, and just judging by how much growth they put on last year, if I went this whole year without pruning them I think by fall they might be gathering up mailmen and loose dogs that wonder on to my porch. I suppose I am of the same mindset as Lori_elf, to help inspire new growth I want to get rid of some of this awkward growth that will not support strong, large canes, even if they seem a little young for it. I always get a little confused when talking about the ages of some of my roses anyway, Munstead wood for example is going into it's second year in my garden, but I purchased it as a large (4' at time of purchase), grafted, 3 gallon plant from my local nursery, so it obviously spent at least a year with them, if not more, so would you consider him to be 3 years old at this point? or still just going on 2 because that is how long he has been with me? Not that it really matters all that much because when I judge them, I don't really consider their age as much as I consider their overall size and the vigor that I have witnessed under my own care. For example, I have two Jude the Obscure plants which I got last spring, both have been living in pots that are 12" across since their initial transplant. One plant was a band from from Heirloom and it was purchased earlier in the year, the other was a gallon sized plant purchased from Chamblees purchased a little later in the year. The band from Heirloom really took off and put on a lot of growth last year & is now about 3' tall, he is the one with the odd candelabra situation. Even though the Chamblees specimen was supposed to be a "gallon sized plant", he has grown much slower, but has retained more of a pleasantly round & even shape, it is a little over 1' tall. I feel comfortable pruning the Heirloom specimen because the largest cane is very thick & long, the plant is tall and seems very healthy. I would however not prune the Chamblees plant, it is still very small and looks very young at this point. I think this is due to the unusually small root ball it had upon arrival, both plants I bought from Chamblees did (the other being Molineux) which is why I probably won't be ordering from them again, they were puny as gallon sized plants and have been surpassed by every single band I purchased from Heirloom at this point. I did prune both the roses that I mentioned in the original post, but I did it gently, not removing the entire candelabra, just a few of the smaller branches here and there, or the most awkward growth on the cane in question, so that the new growth that they put on this spring will help them evolve into more balanced, rounded shrubs. I don't have many roses large enough to prune, so these two being some of my only decent sized shrubs (3-5ft tall) I really wanted them to be presentable, even if it sets them back a tiny bit, I need something pretty to look at while I'm waiting on my herd of 1 year old gallon sized babies to mature. I really don't think it will cause them much of a problem, because as I said, almost all of my Austins have grown very quickly and vigorously so far, and I already see Jude swelling into large buds in all the places I was hoping he would, so I think he will do great this year, still waiting on MW, but I think he will do great as well. I'll try to snap some photos today. Thanks again for all your responses! Jessica.