A Mind of One's Own

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This Four-Winged Saltbush did not look like this a month ago.  It looked boring and grey and lackluster, its twiggy branches barely covered with puny and brittle leaves.  Nothing a little pruning by an amateur with dull tools couldn't fix! I cut half of it off (the dead-looking part) and almost right away it leafed out beautifully.  It has even started to take on the contour of the irregularly-shaped plot of soil in which it sits! Jim Borland says not to plant these, and especially not to prune them, lest you have an untameable beast on your hands!  My interpretation of this was "Great, I'll put one of those right next to the front door!"  I guess part of my emerging philosophy is that one must throw caution (and good advice) to the wind and try things out for oneself...