Bobert, the bark is that nice in real life. I haven't pruned it much and it's grown into a multistemmed (about 8) shrub that grows quickly to about 15 feet then arches back down (I guess they call that vase-shaped). I prune it up and there's grass to within about a yard of the roots. We've had some pretty heavy ice storms which it weathered by simply drooping lower, but last March we had a heavy windstorm that took out a whole trunk (about 3 inch diameter) to the ground.