How can I make my Mahonia x media sprout branches?

Once it has finished flowering then you may prune it back as hard as you like. This will stimulate dormant buds further down the stem to begin growing. We had to cut one of ours back to 6 inches above ground level. It is now really bushy and growing well.

oh thank you very much. I will do that. It is still in a large pot of soil at the moment as I am not sure where to plant it yet. I have covered the pot with sacking and its in a sheltered place. I may leave it alone now untill spring, would you agree?

With a name like Owdboggy you sound like a northerner like me.

I would definitely leave it till spring because a few years ago I cut mine back for the same reason but I think I did it too early. There were a few colds snaps after I cut it back and we lost it. So cutting back is the correct thing to do but in the warmer weather I think

Thanks for answering my question, I am new and quite thrilled that people have answered so quickly.
I will leave it alone untill all frost has gone

Owdboggy was me Dad's nickname when he was in the Navy, but yes one does hail from the County Palatine!
Sorry I should have been more specific about the time of pruning.

I agree with Owdboggy's first post. My own plant was wacked back to the GROUND when the Public Utility Co. did their undergrounding of lines. It was still on my side of the property, but they took it out. It recovered fully in that following year. It was in the summer! I prune many Mahonia severely during that time frame.