https://preview.redd.it/6r1qiwuvpepd1.jpg?width=584&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf5289f27b27038ec0981e21645d8c6dae1c6f6c

How do I get thick and full podocarpus hedges like this photo? I am about to plant 15g plants that will start 6-8ft tall. My goal is for them to be about 12 feet tall and it seems like they can get there in 2 years from what I've read.

My two questions are how far to space them and how to trim them? I have read 2 ft apart but some people say they regret spacing them too close and to start 3 ft apart.

I have read to not top them too early but also read to start hedging them very early to encourage dense lower growth. I am in zone 10a and don't have frost concerns and I am able to fertilize year round if that is called for.

I would like them to grow in full enough that I can light them with landscape lighting without most of the light bleeding through to the other side.