Pruning Malus - How Often ?

I have a Malus John Downie tree about 6 years old . It has not developed very quickly and is only now becoming "tree" shaped after pruning the last 2 years.
The RHS class this as group 1 pruning , which says little or no pruning. Should I prune again this Feb. , to promote more growth , or should I now leave it for a few years?

TIA

 

Never pruned ours in 17 years.
As with most Malus, Winter pruning leads to the development of fruiting spurs, Summer pruning to new growth, so take your pick!

 

Thanks Palustris , I'll follow your advice and let it do its own thing now . I'll just tidy it and trim for shape when needed

 

There's an interesting section about this in one of my books. Apparently a growing shoot sends a hormone back down the tree to tell any lower buds not to bother, because the leader has what it needs to grow best. Cutting that shoot off will obviously stop it sending that signal so that lower buds will grow, but then the race just begins further down the branch, with one other bud becoming the leader and telling the rest not to bother, so they either grow slowly or not at all.

The author (the late Geoff Hamilton) suggests that rather than actually cutting bits off, you choose buds that you want to grow, and using a sharp sterile knife, cut into the bark about half an inch above the bud, not to cut right through, but enough to ensure than the bud in question does not receive the hormone signal from the leader further up. Its supposed to give you much greater control over which bits of the tree grow so that you can control its shape without necessarily cutting off any part of it.

This is what I've read. I haven't tried it so have no experience there.