did you prune large branches as close to the ground as possible

or did you give it a haircut??? if so.. you may have cut off all the buds ...

ken

I prunned it back to about 12 inches of so but not sure if I did this last fall of not. My question is, what would be a good time to prune it back now, where it is so tall and there were no flowers and will not have berries this year? I do want to help it produce berries but really don't want it to be so tall.

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure that this shrub will bloom NEXT year on the growth that it makes THIS year. So don't cut any of the greenwood, but you can cut back the hardwood to get it back into shape. Remember, though, that it's going to keep getting big - maturity ranges from 8 to 12 feet. Also remember that 3 years may not have been enough for it to be mature enough to bloom and have berries.

A good 12 foot is right on and suckers like crazy! I hope you have plenty of room for it to widen out as well.

If you have to keep pruning it, not only will it not bloom, it's simply too big for the spot. Yopu can't keep cutting it to 12 inches to keep it small and expect it to bloom also. Move it and replace with something smaller. It blooms on the previous year's wood and will bloom without a pollinator, though it may not have much in the way of berries.

Oh this shrub has plenty of room to grow in both directions, I just want to make it a little bit shorter so it doesn't look so lanky. I will not prune it at all this year and see what happens next spring. If it does flower, I can prune it back somewhat then, correct?

Thanks for all your responses, sorry I had totally forgot about this post, blonde moment I guess.

I don't have that particular variety, just a fairly large European Highbush Cranberry. I treat is a bit like a multi-stemmed small tree, so the lankiness doesn't bother me. It's planted in a narrow bed along the garage with hydrangeas as the main companions. There are some rodgersias under it, but the main companion planting for the cranberries is a Polish Spirit (supposedly!) clematis that grows into it. Some stems of the clematis are kept short to provide color low down, but the rest I leave unpruned so they can grow up through the full height of the cranberry. They just made it to the top this year.

I like the height of our cranberry and keep the bush trimmed such that it makes an arch over the path by the garage - i.e. I keep any side shoots trimmed back on the lower end of the trunks so most of the leaf growth - and flowers - are on the top, arching out over the path. Since the berries stay on all winter, it makes a nice feature most of the year. Some pictures:

In flower in June:

{{gwi:27782}}

With clematis in July:
{{gwi:169489}}
{{gwi:169491}}

The fruit has just turned red (view includes hardy hibiscuses and veronicastrum in the bed across from the garage wall):

{{gwi:19348}}

A picture from September a couple of years ago:
{{gwi:10335}}

Fall color on mine is good some years but bland in others. I can't find a good fall picture in my files offhand. I also can't seem to find any good winter pictures featuring the fruit, but it's a plant definitely worth persisting with and getting it right re pruning to get the flowers and fruit as a feature in the garden.