Bart,
Since no one else has jumped in here I'll share my limited experience on
this plant with you even though mine are not 'compacta'. Scroll down
please.


"Bart Thomas" wrote:

Inspired by a photo of Reiner's last fall, I went out and bought a
Euonymus
'compacta' (not very compact - it came balled & bagged.)

As our snow starts to melt, I am contemplating my next steps. (it's heeled
into the (frozen) garden at present.

When should I put it in a training pot? (The trunk is big enough.)

If your trunk is the size you want it to be then it's time to put it into
either a training pot or even a slightly over size bonsai pot (your option).
I would wait until you don't expect night time temps to fall below 40 F.


When should I start to train branches?

Mine have very flexible green branches for quite a while before they harden
off and get woody. I'd use caution wiring these. Once woody they still
flex well and should be a bit easier to wire. My personal choice with this
bush is grow and clip.


Can I treat this like a maple and cut everything off the trunk? When?

Not sure on this yet. Mine throw lots of suckers from the base of the plant
which after a year of observation seem to actually help thicken that part of
the trunk at soil level. Mine also seem to back bud with abandon, so I
'think' mucho trimming can be done without causing death, but I'm
definitely going to experiment on one before I recommend complete removal of
the plants branch structure to anyone. I'll get back to Y'All.

One other observation, even growing in the worst -soil- I've ever seen (I
had to bare root and wash out the old stuff completely) the root mass was a
sight to behold. Wonderful fleshy white roots as thick as a luffa gourd
;-). That alone told me that the plant was tough and I think it will put up
with most anything I want to do to it.

Regards,
Shelly Hurd Central CA - Sunset Zone 8-USDA Zone 9