I have these 3 Blue Potato Tree standards, but I have never been able to get them pruned/cut back so that they look like others I have seen............think Weeping Cherry type look. I am about ready to toss them, but they bloom pretty nice during the summer and smell good. They just look SO ratty. I've left the growth that has been coming at the bottom and have been toying with the idea of just chopping off the "tree" part and letting them "bush".

Any hints or suggestions?

I'd never heard of Blue Potato Bush (Lycianthes rantonnetii) and I sure do I love those purple flowers!

Top Tropicals site: http://toptropicals.com/catalo... says that a light pruning after flowering will help maintain a neat, compact shape and also encourage more flowers.

The problem is GETTING it to a "neat, compact shape................" Any pruning I have ever done has not made it the shape that I have seen in other standards.