Spindle Tree

[big george]

I have a Spindle Tree in my garden which is very twiggy and all over the place. I want to cut it to a neater, smaller round shape. Do I prune it now or at the end of the winter?

[andyjevs]

Don't see no reason why it can't be done now. We prune a majority of our shrubs in winter except the spring flowering ones (eg forsythia) which is pruned after flowering. We also have a prune to shape programe which goes on all year.  HTH

[andyjevs]

Just a very quick after thought....if you prune too hard now, you're going to lose that glorious autumn colour which is mainly what they're grown for so you might want to leave it until all the leaves have dropped.

[woofgang]

in the wild, spindle trees are twiggy and all over the place, if you try to shape it too much, it will end up looking very artificial