It's WAY out of bounds insofar as it's outline goes. You should choose a central branch as the leader, then all other branches should be pruned back very hard. Once it back-buds, you should start pinching it - when any branch other than the leader has grown 3 leaves, prune back to 2 leaves. Do this religiously all summer long, then give it its head for the winter. Prune all long winter growth off in late spring (early June) and resume your pinching until fall.

All trees will best respond to your ministrations if you move them outdoors when temps allow. Too, you should establish a root maintenance schedule and stick to it. Your tree should be repotted every 2-3 years, and no longer than every 4 years. Tight roots (the condition) robs your plant of a lot of potential, and the limitations start at about the point where the root/soil mass can be lifted from the pot intact. Regardless of the plant's size or age, it will be limited continually once the roots have become congested, no matter how many times you pot up. Potting up is different than repotting and ensures your plant is missing out on more and more potential for growth and vitality levels as the congestion increases.

The key to growing well is making sure all cultural conditions are in the plant's sweet spot. If only one of the conditions is asking the plant to carry on at or near the limits of what it's programmed to deal with, it will be that single factor that is limiting the plant - even id every other factor is spot-on perfect.

Al

Cut one branch at a time, and if the light source only from 1 direction, rotate the plant regularly at least once a month.

Thanks AI! If I go ahead and prune the non-leader branches, I was thinking of only doing these two branches at the points indicated "Cut 1" and "Cut 2" because those are the only ones with more than two leaves. Is that the right way to do it? Or should I also cut the other small branches that have only two leaves? I assume the tree needs some leaves to sustain itself, but maybe not?

If it was mine, I'd flush the soil and fertilize it generously, but not so generously it ends up being a problem, and move it outdoors into open or dappled shade if/when temps allow. After 2-3 weeks outdoors, I'd cut every branch with more than 2 leaves back to 2 leaves - all at the same time. In trees that are reasonably to very healthy, the harder the pruning, the more enthusiastically the tree will back-bud. Back-budding and pinching are the mechanisms with which you can create a full and compact plant. After a year or two of pinching, you'll be removing branches that make the tree TOO full. IOW, you'll remove branches that cross other branches or are shading out other branches in more appropriate positions. Also, as your tree gets fuller and better ramified (more branches and leaves), the length of internodes (distance between leaves) and the size of new leaves will decrease.

Late spring to early summer is the best time to do hard pruning; this, because the tree's photosynthesizing ability is peaking and its stored energy reserves will be close to peaking. This means a faster recovery and a more enthusiastic response to your work.

If there is a considerable distance between the trunk and the first leaf (the most proximal leaf) on the branch, your first pruning cut might only be a stepping stone. Since you want the foliage on branches to be close to the trunk, you might need to wait for the tree to back-bud, then cut it back again next year. Bonsai practitioners call this technique "chasing the foliage back [closer to the trunk]".

Over the long haul, plants need to produce more food/energy than they use. The extra energy is what produces growth. Trees near the LCP (light compensation point) are at sort of a standstill, because
carbohydrates required by plants in respiration are roughly equal to
carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis. Plants that are using more food/energy than they are creating will die unless the trend is reversed. Trees with a good store of energy can be completely defoliated, if the timing is right, and put on a new flush of foliage by calling on its reserves to provide the energy.

If you do cut back hard, monitor moisture needs carefully. It will be easy to over-water when you've reduced the foliage mass significantly; and, remember to fertilize with something appropriate, and flush the soil, with regularity.

Al

Thanks AI and Gudang!

I'll flush and fertilize and get the soil in shape before doing the pruning. Will see if I can find an appropriate location outside - my backyard is west facing so there's really no shade. If I can't move it out, I might move it to the room with a big skylight before pruning and just have it live there.

Now, when your new extending branches have grown 3 mature leaves, pinch (prune) the branch immediately distal to the second leaf - so only 2 leaves remain on the branch. You CAN pinch at any time of the year, but it's best to do it all at once in the summer, even if that means allowing more than 3 leaves on a branch before you pinch it.

You have a nice framework to build on now, so you'll pretty much be working on what's referred to as ramification, which means pruning/pinching to increase the number of leaves and branches. When you pinch religiously, 1 branch becomes 2 branches, 2 become 4, 4-8, 8-16, 16-32. You can see that the number of leaves and branches increase exponentially, and after a couple of years of pinching, a healthy plant should be very full and compact - such that you'll also be removing branches in awkward places or branches that block light from a branch in a better position.

Your tree's looking pretty darn good!

Al

AI, thanks for the additional guidance! Before I make the cuts, I want to make sure I understand "pinch (prune) the branch immediately distal to the second leaf". In this picture which is of the right side of the tree, does that mean I prune only new branch 2 and not new branch 1? Or do you mean to prune both new branches, just above the second leaf of each branch? Also, there was one branch on the tree that I didn't prune last time (3 months ago) because it only had 2 leaves, but now it grew 3 more. Should I go ahead and prune those now too? Thanks!

Ideally, you want to terminate a branch's ability to extent by removing the apex, aka the apical meristem, which is located near the very distal (farthest from the trunk or root to shoot transitional zone at the base of the trunk) end of the branch, before it wastes a lot of energy on growing longer, only to have you cut it back hard later. Example: imagine a new branch that is extending. It will quickly (in plant time) grow so long it is well out of bounds of what you would consider to be a reasonable outline for your tree. If you let it extend until it has 5 or 6 leaves on it before you cut it back, two things could happen. A) if you have lost a leaf or two close to the trunk on the branch you plan to prune, when you cut the branch back to 2 leaves, you're actually cutting it back to the 4th node distal to the branch or trunk it's attached to. This means the new branches that form in are going to be much longer than ideal. You want the next order of branching to occur as close as possible to the point where the branch is attached to the trunk or a lower order branch. B) allowing the branch to grow a lot of leaves you're only going to cut off when you prune is inefficient use of the tree's energy allotment. Pinch or prune early, before your branches have shed any leaves, and the energy that would have been wasted when you cut off an overly long branch will be devoted to the formation of new branches, as you have seen. These you will retain as a permanent part of the tree's o/a mass.

This is an image of the growth habit of a trailing coleus:

I've done a little bit of pinching around the top of the planting, See how the branches keep extending?

See below how careful pinching can change the growth habit of another trailing coleus, and then a duck-foot variety that tends to sprawl:

The result of pinching is predictable, and pinching is a tool that should be used early and often for a huge % of the plants we grow that tend to get to the stage where the average grower considers the plant to be out of control.

Understanding this concept represents the difference between who has control over how the plant grows - better you than the plant. I frequently talk about the different planes on which we interact with our plants. Knowing how to pinch/prune is definitely one of those things that tends to raise the plane and increase the personal satisfaction that comes from growing things.

If you don't understand something re pinch/prune, please make sure you keep asking questions until it's clear in your mind. It's an important part of your skill set.

Al

Wow, it's surprising to see how the pinching totally changes the growth habit and shape of the trailing coleus. Yes, the pinch/pruning definitely creates a whole different dynamic with the plant. It's very satisfying (and amazing!) to see something grow they way you've intended. I've gone ahead and done some pinching/pruning and will let you know how it turns out. I'm guessing the new growth will be slower this time since we're nearing the end of summer (although in SF this is when our warm season actually starts). Thanks again, AI!

My pleasure. Best luck ....... and I DO hope you remember the thread and come back to share your thoughts.

Al

Hi AI, Thank you for your help two years ago!! It has changed my relationship with my plants. I just wanted to update you on my focus lyrata and ask some more questions. It’s been growing well and is better proportioned that before but I skipped pruning last year and now branches A and B are growing a lot faster than the others bc they are closer to the sunlight which is a skylight. Branch D is moderate grower, E and F are toward the wall and not growing much - I think A and B may be shading them. Branch C has no leaves anymore. It used to have a couple but they fell off. That branch is totally shaded. My question is how many branches should I prune? All of them or only A and B, the big growers? Do I prune all the way down to two leaves again? Also, when I prune, is there a direction or exact placement of the cut I should do to encourage branching in one direction vs another? Just trying to figure out how to prevent shading of other branches...but maybe that’s due to the sunlight direction? And would you just cut off Branch C since there are no leaves, and if so, where do I make the cut? Thank you so much for your advice.

Hi, Jocelyn. I'm happy to see you came back to share the progress and offer the kind words. Your tree has changed quite a bit from the first images you posted - strong work!

"...... now branches A and B are growing a lot faster than the others bc they are closer to the sunlight which is a skylight. Branch D is moderate grower, E and F are toward the wall and not growing much - I think A and B may be shading them. Branch C has no leaves anymore. It used to have a couple but they fell off. That branch is totally shaded. My question is how many branches should I prune? All of them or only A and B, the big growers? Do I prune all the way down to two leaves again? Also, when I prune, is there a direction or exact placement of the cut I should do to encourage branching in one direction vs another? Just trying to figure out how to prevent shading of other branches...but maybe that’s due to the sunlight direction? And would you just cut off Branch C since there are no leaves, and if so, where do I make the cut? I'll try to go through and answer in the order your questions were asked, though I'm sure I'll get overzealous about one question and in expanding on it I'll likely answer other of your questions. I guess that's why the phrase "see above" was coined. As far as how many branches should be pruned, I think all that are growing strongly need pruning to force energy to the weaker branches. The branches growing moderately should be at least pinched (tip pruned to stop extension and force hack-budding.

I would prune everything back in bounds.To establish where the boundary is, imagine a giant soup bowl, upside down, and settled over the trunk. Anything sticking out beyond that outline should be cut back to the outline, more specifically, to the leaf that is closest TO the outline w/o extending beyond it. This should produce back-budding in at least the 2 leaves closest to the cut. If the distal leaf heads in the wrong direction, which would be the direction where it will receive less light, you can cut back to the next proximal leaf (1 leaf closer to the trunk).

If it was my tree, I would have no problem doing the following: Prune back to the outline as described above, then tip-prune every branch you didn't need to prune to keep it in bounds. Then, remove every leaf on the tree except the last (most distal) leaf on each branch and move the tree outdoors as soon as temps allow. Give it a week in dappled or open shade, then move it where it receives sun for a half day for a week before moving into full sun. This strategy will force lots of back-budding - just be careful not to over-water because transpirational water loss (due to reduction of the canopy) will decrease significantly. If you aren't using Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 regularly, the plant will show its appreciation if you do. If we didn't discuss that previously, we can do that.

Oh - keep after the pinching, too. You can see by now, I would guess, how much difference pinching can make.

Al

Hi AI,

Thanks for the advice! I will go ahead and prune back to a bowl outline and tip prune the ones that are in bounds. I just want to clarify, when you say "...remove every leaf on the tree except the last (most distal) leaf on each branch" do you mean actually just cut off / break off all the leaves on each branch except the most distal like in this picture? Cut where it says "cut" and keep the most distal leaves circled and then remove all the leaves with Xs? Will that make leaves grow on the lower part of the branch again? Or will all the new growth be at the top?