Tish, not sure whether the words you use properly paints the correct picture about your schefflera. They do grow outwards. Normally, plants, any plant, is pruned to make it look better or make it grow better. Don't prune just for the sake of cutting the plant back.

Eight plants is sufficient for you to try to understand better what the plants need in the way they are cared for.
To that, there are many such guides, books, pamphlets, articles written about their care. It pays to know what you are doing, when you do it.

Your schefflera has leaflets that grow like fingers of a hand.
It likes sun or shade...but not deep shade. It puts up with less than ultimate conditions; prefers ample watering, but good drainage. Such water that drains through the bottom should not be left in the saucer below more than 10 or so minutes, but is dumped afterwards.
Fertilize only when the plant is growing.

The soil you give your plants can improve the drainage as well as improve its health.
Learn about the pests that are a constant memesis to houseplants and the many ways such are treated.

Tish you have mail.

How and when you prune requires a little bit of a judgment call on your part. Scheffs are endowed with very good genetic vigor, and will tolerate LOTS of abuse if they are healthy and growing robustly. You can tip prune, or remove the growing ends of branches almost anytime, as long as the plant isn't clinging to life by a cobweb. ;o) Hard pruning in your zone should be undertaken in the summer - late Jun or early Jul is probably best.

Here is a funeral plant that was brought to me. I kept it in my LR by a window for a couple of months until I could get it acclimated to outdoor conditions. I probably pruned it in Jul some time. It was a radical reduction, but it gives you an idea of what the plant will tolerate if you time things right and have a vital volunteer. ;o) Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.
{{gwi:74810}}
It's a pretty ugly mess. Note the long branches and the lack of branching on the low part of the plant.

With some basic tools that you really won't need:
{{gwi:21969}}
the plant is reduced to this:

{{gwi:74811}}

{{gwi:74812}}

You can see I also did a complete repot with root-work. After the repot, 2-3 weeks in the sun, a little fertilizer .... the plant has begun to back-bud, with new branches and leaves where there obviously were none before:

{{gwi:74814}}

Admittedly, the plant is still not very attractive, but considering what it looked like after the reduction and what it looks like 3 weeks later, you can see the plant is well on its way to being rejuvenated.

I gave/shipped this plant to a guy in NY who had seen other pictures of this process on this forum. He had killed (it was dead - he just didn't know it yet) his fiancé's scheff and was frantic. I asked him to ask her if she thought it would be cool to have the plant. It was yes, so I shipped it.

She emailed me this pic showing her @ home in NY with the plant, which was a little further along the road to recovery than shown above:

{{gwi:74815}}

As noted, this plant went through a radical transformation, but soon would have looked like this one (different plant than the one I posted a few days ago - this one is supposed to be variegated, but light levels have diminished the variegation)

{{gwi:74816}}

A picture of your plant would be helpful. If you are concerned about horizontal branching, you can tip prune the annoying branches now, which will force back-budding, & either selectively prune or remove later when you do the rest of the work.

Got all that? ;o)

Al

Maidinmontana, whatcha' mean "you have mail"? Are you helping me to post a pic?

Tapla, unfortunately the pictures won't enlarge and I would be way too scared to do it without a good look at them. Who am I kidding, I'm scared anyhow. Are you busy, say the end of June or early July :) When you say "It's a pretty ugly mess. Note the long branches and the lack of branching on the low part of the plant", it sounds just like mine. It has very long branches, up to 4' tall that seem so heavy they fall outward and then go vertical again. There are new greener stems in the center of the pot, which again, is open because because of the woody branches laying over.

What about me emailing you my pics so you can determine if your suggestions above are exactly what I should do with my schefflera? And if so, maybe you could email the pictures you sent so I can get a really good look at your procedure.

Thank you!!!

Tish

Sure. ;o)

Al

Hi guys! It has been four months since I pruned my Scheff and I'm about to root prune. Here is the results from cutting the woody stems back by half and tip prunning the rest! I just cannot imagine how much better it is going to be after root pruning!

BEFORE
{{gwi:74424}}

AFTER
{{gwi:74817}}

Isn't Al amazing!!!

Tish

All Al did was type. You did all the work, got the plant all healthy looking and robust again, and you deserve the credit for your efforts. Strong work, Tish. I'm glad you posted the pics. Now others won't be so reluctant or timid when it's time for a rejuvenating major reduction. ;o)

Do you have a pic of what it looked like immediately after you pruned hard?

Al

As a matter of fact I do!!!

{{gwi:74818}}

{{gwi:74819}}

Huge difference, eh?

Vast. Good job!

Al

Outstanding teacher!!!

Tish

I also have a scheff that is out of control, We got it at my Husband's Father's Funeral,That was 9yrs ago and the plant looks like the one in the pic above on the bedroom floor, I just moved it outside because it was taking up the entire corner of my LR and hitting the top of the ceiling. When you prune these plants, Do you start at the base of the branches or start on the outside and work your way down? Also when you root prune do you just cut the roots in half and replant? I need help!! Can these plants sit on a deck during the summer out of the sunlight but in the heat? I don't want to kill it but I can't bring it back in until it gets a pruning! Can you help me..

Kathy

You're kind of piggy-backing on Tish's thread, but I know her. She's a gentle soul and I'm pretty sure she won't mind.

Do you have the ability to post a picture? You should prune the top now and follow it quickly (2 weeks or so) with the root-work. Ideally, you should be finished with the work before the end of Jul. While you're considering what we'll talk about, you should consider what (soil) you'll be repotting into. A fast (free-draining) and durable soil is highly desirable. A Soil Discussion, if you're interested

It will do very well outdoors in full sun, but you need to acclimate it to a full sun position gradually - you can't just move it from indoors to full sun in one move.

Review the pictures & text in this thread for a better understanding of how to prune roots of scheffs. If you have more questions, perhaps Tish will be gracious enough to allow you to ask them here, or you can ask on the thread linked to below, even though it's directed at Ficus.

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: Another thread