I know the thing gets HUGE. But I read in a web site thhat you can prune them down to the ground every late winter like dogwoods. So that may be happening here. If I prune and they don't come back..........................I'm still not out anything. Just a bit of time. Some she has in big containers and she said they don't seem to be getting as big as the one she has in the ground. Another option to try. I've got three, if they all root, I've 3 options to try and see which fits best.