Guest Author - Wendy Lee

Pruning is a necessary, healthy and often times scary thing to do for the betterment of your houseplants. I say scary because 5 out of 7 emails I receive are about pruning, cutting too much, too little, season, type of plant, disease, propagation, will I kill my plant if I cut it back? The answer for most plants is no. In many cases plants LIKE to be cut back as it promotes new fresh growth, creating a fuller looking plant. The directions herein are general pruning guidelines for your average houseplant, like a pothos, peace lily, Schefflera, etc.

Cutting away dead materials, dried flowers, yellowed leaves et cetera can be done year round. Limit your extreme pruning however, as with landscaped shrubbery, to the start of the growth season. If you want your plant to stay the same size that it is presently, remove it from its pot and trim its roots. I usually stick to the 1/3 rule, where in I will trim a third of the root stock back in a uniform manner. Repot your plant into the same container it was in. For promotion of new leaves and stems, trim back last years new growth, sounds silly yes, but eliminating last years terminal bud (very last point of stem) will cause lateral buds (located on either side of new stems usually near leaf petioles) to sprout forth making a fuller plant with more stems. This method is not recommended for Dracaenas, palms and Peace Lilies which are single stemmed plants.

These stem cuttings can be used to make new baby plant clones from the parent plant. This is most commonly done by setting it in a glass of water until it produces roots or by placing it in damp soil/paper towels. Best for this type of propagation are pothos, Croton, Inch plant, Swedish ivy, and African violets. Be careful to avoid drowning your cuttings and causing rot to set in.

Rot can be dehabilitating to a plant of any age, never mind new cuttings. This disease and others is another reason pruning may need to be done out of season. Always use a clean knife or clippers to trim rotted material away as the bacteria can be transferred to healthy tissue. Another anomaly that will require trimming is leggy growth; this is caused by lack of light or too much fertilizer. Even if you move your plant to a better location or adjust its feeding schedule, try as you might, those lanky stems are not going to fill out and be able to sustain the weight of new healthy growth in the years to come. It is best to trim it off in order to promote lateral bud growth and a fuller stronger plant.

You may want to prune your plant to let it ‘breathe’ meaning that the center, as with a Ficus benjamina, has gotten too congested with stems and is causing the leaves to yellow and fall off. By using the 1/3 rule from above clean out the center, this will promote new leaf growth to replace the ones that previously fell.

Finally, because you have trimmed stems and possibly repotted or trimmed its roots up your plant will be in shock. Shock occurs when something in your plants usual microcosm has changed drastically. In this case you’ve cut off some of its limbs. At this point fertilization is not recommended, do however give your plant a good soaking but avoid letting it sit in water. Hopefully, all this hard work will reward you with a happy, fuller plant.