hi .. congrats on the new digs ... first.. its a conifer.. the reason that is important.. is that you prune/trim conifers differently than you do flowering shrubs .... a little learning ... and the term 'evergreen' only means its green in winter ... which covers MANY different kinds of plants .... and though it is technically a tree ... we dont prune it like we prune the other kinds of tree ... but i digress .. you have two problems... the first as you suspect is the shade [yeah, yeah.. keep reading] .. it was probably planted in full sun.. when the trees were smaller.. sever pruning in shade is going to lead to one but ugly plant.. IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE.. for MANY years to come ... think hard.. is this really what you want as the prime specimen.. welcoming visitors to your new.. humble abode .... i would NOT ... so it isnt really an issue of IF it can be done.. rather an issue of do you really want to do IT ... OK.. i re-read the pesky facts.. they are now in full sun ... the important part.. is still how you want to present the front of your house... with a renovation project or some nice new... YOUNG stock ... which leads to the second problem... an overly mature ... most likely planted-too-close-to-the-house foundation planting ... again.. you have a 5 year renovation of an old man here .... i might do it 250 feet out from my house on my 5 acres.. but i wouldn do it in front of my house .... i dont care what you do to grandpa.. no amount of exercise or steroids is going to make him a healthy young stud again ... lol ... can it be done.. probably .. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DO IT>>> only you can answer ... if you are gung ho on giving it a try .. a picture would really help define exactly what need be done .... a proper ID would be the place to start.. and that can be done with a pic.. over in the conifer forum ... leaves/needles, bark and cones [which might look like berries on this one] MOST conifers .. any branch left after pruning without green will die ... they will not regrow green [again, subject to full ID] ... so where and how to prune can be very tricky ... good luck ken

can you post a picture for us to see how wide it is, how many branches you have, what kind of a pot it's in? or at least find some picture that is similar by searching images? if you can move it by van/car (not commercially) I suggest the following: make sure it's totally dry. if you can lift it out of the pot and put it in plastic pot: will be easier to handle. get a conical wire cage (tomatoes), secure around the pot. that should secure the main trunk somewhat from wobbling. cylindrical wire cage might be good too. some breakage of branches will be inevitable: you might want to prune it. use old pantyhose or strips of stretchable fabric (elastic) to wrap around trunks/branches and also around the wire cage: so that the plant does not shift inside the cage, but there is some give when it shakes during transport. do not use regular ropes - they might snap the branches on a bump. break up a large cardboard box flat. crease it so it'll be easy to roll around the plant (or make it rectangular, so it would not roll if put on the side). it will be best if the pot is similar to the width of the plant: so you can put cardboard around the pot, extending to the height of the plant. do not close bottom or top. it'll be easier to lift it if you can grab it by the bottom of the pot - so tape cardboard to the middle of the pot with duct tape. if you can transport it vertically, wedged between other tall boxes - that's great. if not - you can gently put it on the side. and transport it sideways. make sure it does not roll. if it's on the side - some branches might break, if it is not secure in the wire cage. This post was edited by petrushka on Wed, Apr 17, 13 at 10:27

Hey! It looks magnificent. Nice job! The thing is, you really can't go wrong. You were brave, and chopped back to very thick limbs. As Josh points out, many styling options are available in the future. The main trunk on that plant (in the foreground) could stand alone if the others are not attached. I think I would leave it as a clump, and play with the length of different limbs. You need not leave any leaves at all. The plant will recover a full head of hair in about a year. I like to trim them down to stumps, all the leaves disappearing in a zealous fit of cutting. The stark form helps you better imagine how it will look with leaves. You can't go too far. I would chop some more, but I'm prone to cutting frenzies... Brad

I'd agree with Raxidor. That looks a lot more like Portulacaria...aka elephant bush/tree/plant. A pretty impressive one, at that, despite the lack of leaves. Full sun with very fast soil and light but consistent fertilizing should do fine. If it's anything like mine are, the roots are rather impressive for a succulent. I take mine out regularly to root prune and stick back in, but without it, it'd need a bigger pot. If it were mine, I think I'd leave it that way and just repot it. It'd be really striking & interesting with tiny leaves forming all over once it comes back into season. Otherwise, in your case, I'd lop off the tops and any branches not growing vertical. Leave them out for a day or two then stick in the same pot or a separate pot. Can't help with bonsai but you can ask Al (aka screen name tapla; aka bonsai master; aka our very own gritty mix professor). I don't know that I have ever seen a portulacaria bonsai. Must be getting rather nippy in the UK now and your rains are no joke, haha, so keep it warm and in the brightest light you have. I find my portulacaria take/accept more water than my other succulents (all in the same loose mix) without suffering at all. But I'd hold most water and fertilizer until early spring if it's indoors. For soil, anything that drains fast should work well. (Bark, gravel, perlite....) There's a ton of info if you search for "gritty mix" or "Al's Gritty Mix." I've never had a succulent go wrong because of gritty mix....and 100% of the time, it'll do much better than regular potting soil. Nice looking plant. Great find and gift! I suppose there is a slim chance that a jade in the garage (which I've never done) will change its stems and leaves to look like that...so I won't say I am 100% sure it's not a jade. I'm about 98% certain. :-) Grace