Burning Bush - Euonymous alatus 'Compacta'

[leatherback]

even so, some of those branches seem too thick, stiff and straight. I hope I can activate lower buds and trim them back again

I find that sun exposure will help with budding. But a trim helps best.

Would that shorten the length of branch between nodes too? More often than not, I see buds forming in set of three or four. Can they be safely removed early, or should they be pulled after they open?

I get short internodes on the summer growth.
I do bud selection as I see them form.

 

[Hyn Patty]

Small update. After the last of the 'active' growing buds extended, I now seem to be getting a second round of buds activating that I wasn't expecting, though admittedly I was hoping for after the trim. The small tree is now in full flower and while it needs a lot of work and time to grow larger and thicker over time (and I may well plant it into the ground for a while) I am overall pretty happy with my start on this one. I still need to fine tune my plans on how I want to shape it down the road but I am liking the twin trunk theme that is begun - that area will need to grow and strengthen to overall balance later. Not that I really know what I am doing, mind, but I am really enjoying the start on this plant and may have to go looking for another Euonymus or two. I think a small group planting on a bit larger scale could be a lot of fun.

 

[Hyn Patty]

I do have a question. In my last photo above I do have an example of where two branches come out at the same place with a third up the center. This is an example of 'bar branching' ? Should I aim down the road to remove one of those branches to keep that join from swelling too much and being too static? This seems to be the typical growth pattern of this species so I think that'll be something I'd have to stay on top of and keep in mind constantly, if so.

 

[Hyn Patty]

And a shot as seen from above - it's starting to fill in thicker.

 

[leatherback]

This is an example of 'bar branching' ? Should I aim down the road to remove one of those branches to keep that join from swelling too much

Yes and Yes Did not want to point it out to you originally, thinking you would run into it at some point. And yes. It has opposing buds, which typically both grow resulting in bar branches at every node.

 

[Hyn Patty]

Thanks. I may as well be looking at it and tackling that problem from the start rather than later once it's grown a lot more. Appreciate it.