Help identifying a shrub/tree from the garden

matt_a_sampsonBq6g16pH

Hello, does anyone know what shrub/tree this is please? I am looking to identify it in order to establish when it can be pruned.

JennyJ

I think it's a hazel (Corylus).

steephill

I would let it grow this year and coppice it in autumn after leaf fall - cut down to 6 inches high.

Cambridgerose12

I am not sure that it's a hazel but it's a bit hard to tell because your photo doesn't show the flowers in detail. If they look like this: 

then it is a winterhazel, Corylopsis sinensis, and not a common hazel, Corylus avellana. The winterhazel will die if coppiced. Instead, to keep it within reasonable size, cut out one-third of the oldest growth after flowering, and feed and mulch well. Then repeat the following two years, taking out the oldest third each time. However, Corylopsis are very beautiful and flower on mature wood, so you might not want to be that harsh with it

Cambridgerose12

Ordinary hazel flowers look like this: 
they are tighter catkins with a kind of granular appearance on the outside.

Silver surfer

Definitely Corylopsis. sp.
Cannot tell which one from pics.
Related to Hamamelis... in Hamamelidaceae

matt_a_sampsonBq6g16pH

Thanks for all the comments. I have taken a close up of the flowers, please see below.

Lizzie27

Hi Matt, I've just looked it up in my RHS Plants and Flowers book and it looks like it is Corylopsis gabrescens - so well done Cambridge Rose and Silver Surfer. Not one I've seen in the flesh so to speak and it does look lovely from your photos. Lucky you!

matt_a_sampsonBq6g16pH

Thanks Lizzie. Yes, its a real beauty in our garden!

Silver surfer

Lizzie27 said:

Hi Matt, I've just looked it up in my RHS Plants and Flowers book and it looks like it is Corylopsis gabrescens - so well done Cambridge Rose and Silver Surfer. Not one I've seen in the flesh so to speak and it does look lovely from your photos. Lucky you!

Just a tiny correction.....Corylopsis glabrescens.

Corylopsis are very underrated shrubs...in spring they are fab.
In my humble opinion much nicer than Forsythia.