5 Tips for Pruning a Jade Plant to Keep Your Succulent Looking Its Best

Jade plants are regal, tree-shaped succulents that can be the stars of your plant collection. And when you know how to prune a jade plant, you can keep it shaped and compact, almost like a bonsai. Otherwise, your plant can get top-heavy, growing leggy branches that bend and sometimes break. Avoid a misshapen, damaged mess with these tips on how to prune a jade plant so it stays healthy, full, and less likely to break.

1. Prevent a Top-Heavy Shape

If your jade plant has long branches and is growing up more than out, it’s time to prune it. Your goal is to encourage the jade plant to spread out and be sturdy and shrubby instead of tall and skinny. Ideally, you want a jade that is as tall as it is wide. This not only looks good, but this shape also distributes the weight of the jade plant evenly over its branches.

2. Wait for the Growing Season

You can prune a jade plant at any time, but the best time to prune is spring or early summer. Jade plants are in their peak growing season in warm weather and generate new growth quickly. That’s why you are pruning the plant: not only to reduce its height but also to encourage new, reinvigorated growth.

3. Cut Off Dead Leaves and Stems

Using sharp pruning shears, trim off leaves that are yellowing or have brown spots. These might be diseased, and they’re ugly. As you prune, examine the plant for signs of insects or fungi that could be causing the discolored leaves. Prune off any dead, dried branches where they meet the trunk. Don’t cut into the trunk of the jade, as this could cause scarring or disease. Before pruning the rest of the tree, sanitize your pruners by dipping the blades into a diluted bleach solution or a cup of 70% isopropyl alcohol.

4. Remove Droopy or Leggy Branches

Look for branches on the jade plant that are starting to droop, a sign the branch is too weak to support itself and its leaves. Prune them off so the main trunk of the plant will grow stronger. If the main trunk of the jade has gotten wildly overgrown and is flopping over under its own weight, lop it off. It will grow back bushier and stronger. Prune leggy branches that are thinner and longer than other branches. They’re not as healthy as the others and are sapping strength from the rest of the jade plant. The weak branches must go so the jade plant can grow stronger ones.

5. Pinch Off the Tips of Branches

Encourage your jade plant to be fuller and bushier by snipping off tender new shoots from the end of branches. This encourages the jade plant to grow out instead of up.

6. Don’t Prune Too Much at Once

Never prune more than 20% to 30% of the jade plant’s branches at one time. Removing too much of the plant can shock it and stunt its growth. If your jade plant is overgrown, prune it back gradually—just one or two branches at a time—over several seasons to get it under control again.

7. Watch for New Growth

Once you have pruned the plant, water it. The places you pruned will callous over in a few days, and you will see new growth on the plant over the next few months. To provide nutrients for new growth, give it a shot of liquid plant fertilizer diluted to ¼ strength. Jade plants grow slowly, but smart pruning will make your plant bushier, stronger, and healthier over time.