When we bought this house about 5 years ago, there was a large gap in the hedge where the deer and such had been going thru and DH thought we should do something to fill it in. I vetoed that idea, figuring that it would fill in, and now you can't even tell. They do grow well, at least here. I'm not into trimming them into a box type hedge, so I do let them get taller and uneven, but it fits in with my cottage/rustic type gardening. Thanks for saying the yard's pretty! I took those tonight, and you can tell we just aren't very far into spring yet I just came back from my niece's and Mom's houses today, and they only live about 30 miles away, but are about 1000 feet lower in elevation and a good 2-3 weeks ahead of us I want my yard and flowers to be green like theirs