To get the best leaf colour it's usual practice to reduce the whole plant to ground level in early Spring, just above the first or second pair of buds. This will result in a multi-stemmed, bushier plant. Your plant is healthy, there's lots of buds there. This GW link may help you:
As your plant is quite young @Copperdog, I'd cut it down to the first or second set of buds this year and see how it's shape develops for next year's pruning.
They flower on old wood @Copperdog so if you want to see a flower, leave the main stem unpruned. You plant will be lanky though, it depends whether you want a bushier plant now and can wait until next year for flowers!
If you keep it as one main stem they can turn out as a nice small tree and I think the leaf colour still turns out well. If the one in the photo was in my own garden I'd be inclined to rub off a couple of the lower buds to give it a cleaner lower trunk in time and form into a more standard tree shape but they take well to pruning at a later stage anyway.
I had one and I liked the flowers, but yours will be skinny unless you prune it. If you like the flowers you will have to wait a bit. It needs to bush out a bit first. I would cut it down to about 3 buds. They should produce side shoots and hopefully more will grow from the ground.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I'd cut that down too, so that it can become a good bushy shrub, which will then do well in future years. You can certainly grow them more as a tree too, but that's a very immature plant, and doesn't seem to have the best 'trunk' to do that with. Has it got enough room to fill out? They get quite large.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think cut it back too. That should encourage more shoots from the base I have one and find it grows very bushy and fast. Each year I prune out 1/3 of the old stems in the spring and it sends out more shoots from the base. I usually prune it again after flowers just to keep the height down. It can grow 2-3ft in a season. Some Blood, fish and bone and a mulch will help it get underway.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
How far down should I cut this down by please? Also the other stem dosent look viable? Should I cut that off? Thankyou
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Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace' - BBC Gardeners World Magazine
I had one and I liked the flowers, but yours will be skinny unless you prune it. If you like the flowers you will have to wait a bit. It needs to bush out a bit first. I would cut it down to about 3 buds. They should produce side shoots and hopefully more will grow from the ground.
You can certainly grow them more as a tree too, but that's a very immature plant, and doesn't seem to have the best 'trunk' to do that with.
Has it got enough room to fill out? They get quite large.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have one and find it grows very bushy and fast.
Each year I prune out 1/3 of the old stems in the spring and it sends out more shoots from the base.
I usually prune it again after flowers just to keep the height down.
It can grow 2-3ft in a season.
Some Blood, fish and bone and a mulch will help it get underway.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.