Nevermind, I found out that for every 1 Inch you should leave it out for 1 Month.

I wouldn't be in too large of a hurry to do anything that significantly reduced the plant's photosynthesizing surface at this time, as that would inhibit the plant's ability to make food when it needs it most. I would wait to reduce the tree, and repot if necessary, until sometime between Father's Day and Jul 4th. This will have allowed the plant to gain/store energy as a result of the long photoperiod and warm temperatures, so the plant will quickly back-bud after a significant top reduction and respond well to a repot and accompanying root reduction if required. If both are needed, I would do the root reduction/repot first, followed by a top reduction. Cuttings also come easier when taken from parent material that is at its energy peak. Your plant has a common look that bonsai practitioners usually quickly recognize and label as a slingshot appearance, which should be corrected. The best way to correct it would be to entirely remove the trunk bifurcation that moves leftward in your last picture with a flush cut. New branches will appear around the wound site and you can select one to keep. Its much reduced diameter will help eliminate the slingshot look, plus, you'll be able to train it to a more horizontal position. The other, more vertical branch can then be truncated a little above (1"?) the interesting knot left by a dead or pruned branch on the inside of the 'Y' just above where it bifurcates. Alternately, you could reduce the more vertical part of the 'Y' to something just a little above the knot I described, then shorten the leftward moving branch to about 1/2 of the length of the more vertical branch, as measured from the point of bifurcation. Still though, I think removing the left side of the slingshot is the best choice. Al

Hi Truthwashere, I am unable to view your pictures when I copied the path you put in your thread. I would also suggest you heed RainforestGuy's advise and copy & paste the HTML code in your thread. Just hover your mouse over the picture and copy the code then paste it in the post. When you preview your post, the pictures will show up. Hope to see your pictures soon. Kuan

If you are in zone 8-9, you COULD cut it off now. I still wouldn't. I guess in somewhere they stay out all winter and don't drop leaves, it would probably be ok. Legginess will still be there in the spring. My duck ate some leaves from a pachypodium (a close DR relative) that I was under the impression were MORE posionous than DR, lived to quack another day(s). Didn't even faze him. Them being more toxic than Oleander...I doubt it...but am certianly no exprt! Just an opinion. I would say Oleander tops them all. I guess if the squirrels puked them up, it wouldn't hurt them? I have no clue about the digestive system of squirrels. But back to pruning...I'd just leave things alone. When you do prune you want to pune at an angle...like make it look like the tip of a brand new lipstick. I hope that makes sense. When you make one cut, three new sets of leaves will grow around the cut. Usually. I've had just two before, but generally three. That's a whole lot of energy the plant puts into growing right at the end of the season and then it will just wilt and die when they have to come in for the winter or whatever. I think it's all an energy thing. All said, these are tough plants and can take a lot...during the growing season. They are a lot more fragile when inside during the winter. And about the poison thing, I wouldn't on purpose feed this plant to anything and will continue to keep my cats away from them!!