If you are talking about the branches forking after being headed back that is an expected outcome. To maintain reduced rate of growth and increased density resulting from increased forking and branching keep up the pruning back on an annual basis. Late spring or early summer timing is recommended for shortening the new growth of evergreen conifers.

Thank you, It's more like the bush lost it's compact growth pattern on the particular branch I trimmed.

I hope this picture better shows what I'm experiencing. The branch at the top of the photo is the pruned branch, and it's regrowth is spread out instead of the being compact, as in the branches below it (lower portion of picture)

Upper branch in second photo is a perhaps coincidental reversion to growth more like the typical species and should be entirely cut out. Follow it back to where it starts and cut there. Hopefully there will be enough of the correct growth around it for a conspicuous gap to not be left. Remove any future occurrences of such branches as soon as they are noticed.

the bush lost it's compact growth pattern ...... and it's regrowth is spread
out instead of the being compact,

==>>> perhaps someone can explain the word compact to OP in regard to this plant ...

it seems he has certain expectations.... it seems that based on the name alone.. OP expects it not to grow all that much ... and based on the growth i see ... that is not the fact .. but i dont know what a non-compacta should grow ... MI is a lot less than say.. the PNW ... simply because the growing season is half ...

which of course begs the question... are we sure it is compacta????

ken

It happened before last year, so it had nothing to do with your pruning. It's either a reversion or maybe even the rootstock, I can see that branch goes down pretty far. BTW, a reversion is if the buds on a cultivar mutate/revert back to the original growth rate of the species tree. This is seem very often on dwarf Alberta spruce.

If that growth can be trace down to the base of your tree, it means a branch/bud from below where the cultivar was grafted has grown up as the species instead of the cultivar. Although I think this species is more often rooted than grafted.

C. obtusa 'Compacta' will occasionally revert, that's what you have. Prune it out and no further pruning required. How do I know?

I've pruned it out at least once, maybe twice and it seems to keep growing back. A closer inspection today shows new growth deeper in towards the trunk and it's growing normal & compact off the branches that reverted. My plan is to cut back to the normal growth. Thank you all for your advice, you've solved my problem! I had no idea that foliage on a 'Compact' would revert.