Gill,

That's a fabulous job and a wonderful start, and I hope you haven't put away the knife, clean as it must be.

Take away most / all (I'm voting 'All') of the smallest limb(lets). You'll clean it up fabulously and give clear and present delicious definition to those lovely lengths of jade. You might also want to / have to shorten the limbs where the limblets were, in order to keep its great shape.

That's a pretty plant, and I can see why you're so focused on it. It's got the tortoise-shell pattern, which is always a winner.

Well, as you can see, I've been a bit more tentative when it comes to surgery on Jade #1 as I've only done some minimal pruning as I cant 'see' what I'm aiming for so am scared of ruining the poor thing, does that make any sense? Are you suggesting that the branches till need shortening considerably. I wish I could see the vision of the end product, I really think I need to study to become a 'medium' and be able to see into the future, lol!

I think the 2 new pics are from similar angles to the 2 in my OP to show what I've done so far. I welcome suggestions for me to consider for the next stage, so thanks in advance.

Gill UK

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Make the littlest bits go away, Gill, and I'd guess you'll be a jade seer sine qua non.

Hi again, here's #1 after growing back. I seem to recall someone (Al maybe??) suggesting to remove opposite sprouts for a 'good look'....I would welcome thoughts on this and any other ideas obviously as the next stage is looming.

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Gill UK

It's a tough call....if I were in person with you and the plant, I'd be able to suggest a branch or two that could be shortened. At this stage, however, I'd wait for the leaves to fully mature and begin returning energy to the plant. I think the branches to modify will be much more obvious when the plant has filled out. It is looking fantastic!

Josh

Hi Gill

This is my favorite one between the 2 you posted.
The plant looks really nice too without any leaves from the second picture above.

Thanks Josh for the info, I can see what you mean by waiting for it to put on more growth, so I will do just that. You are a great help to me....soooooo, if ever you are passing by my part of the globe, please call in!!

Hi Sam, I can't decide which is my favourite as I treat them like my 3 children....I just can't pick which one I prefer as each is an individual with their own good qualities!

Gill UK

Awesome whack job on this plant. It looks great!

Seeing threads like these make me itch for a jade. I found them boring since they are all green, but Ive never seem them treated like bonsai. I absolutely love it!

What do you do with all those leaves? Plant them?

This post was edited by NameTaken on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 15:40

American G, hello and thanks for the kind comment, glad you like my efforts :)

NameTaken, hi there....regarding the leaves...no I didn't plant any of them as I have enough Jades in several varieties already, so they simply went onto the compost heap....and everyone of the things rooted in there, even the ones that got buried deep down, lol!!

Gill UK