When should I prune and move my physocarpus?
James Watson, by email
Stefan says: Physocarpus is a genus of several lovely North American shrubs, sometimes called ninebarks, and the most common is Physocarpus opulifolius, of which you have the popular golden-leaved form called ‘Dart’s Gold’. You don’t say where it’s growing or how large it is, but I assume it’s in the open ground, although they can be grown for a while in containers.
They need little or no pruning but should be tidied up after flowering. They’re totally hardy and you’ll do little harm to your plant whenever you prune it, but assuming we have relatively mild weather in the coming weeks, I would both prune and move it then. If by chance the winter does become extremely cold, then leave the work until March.