I've always seen it much lower than 3' and used as a foreground or edge plant. It grows horizontally more than vertically from what I've seen. Maybe if its pruned a lot it would get taller in the middle.

Maybe a dwarf conifer would make a better specimen. Gold foliage is not too hard to find in a needle evergreen.

Mine is a nice specimen in full sun, a nice mounded shape provided you give it regular pruning. It can grow leggy, like a vine, if you let it, but it takes to pruning into a specific shape wonderfully. It's a beautiful plant - give it a few years and you'll have a nice specimen. Trim only straggler branches the first and second year - let the rest fill in. By the third year you should be retaining the shape you want.

They like water - be sure to provide ample water. I'm extremely happy with the growth rate.

I trim mine down because I have it next to a purple smokebush and I want a lower profile shrub in a smaller planting space, but it will grow close to if not up to 3 feet in height.