Have you ever stood back and looked at your garden in full bloom and thought, "gee that's really nice, but there is something missing" yet you just can't put your finger on it? It's really aggravating me.

I do have one spot that is giving me a really hard time figuring out what the heck could be done with it. Former owners planted a 2 foot raised area about 10 feet in front of a privacy fence. In the raised area they put a crepe myrtle (no idea what variey) with lantana around the base. Seems like a good idea and is very pretty in the summer....except that the crepe myrtle is pruned to a tree form. And so I have 10 feet deep of wasted space behind it! I think the area could handle a plant that was up to 5 foot across and I'd like it to get around 6 foot tall. It is in THE focal point for the yard. So I'd like to have something that would have year round interest. It stays fairly dry there, and gets a good bit of shade in the afternoon. Any ideas of a way to fill in this space?

The crepe myrtle is now around 12 foot tall, probably 5 years old, healthy, and has a nice shape. Should I (or would it even be possible? or advisable?) to cut it back and let it come back with a more natural multi trunk shape?