Need help pruning crassula ovata

13 years ago

Have crassula ovata growing in in the ground unattended, and now that we're paying attention to our yard again we need help pruning the succulent. It's on a north facing patch with the house to the south. It seems the plant is reaching up towards the south where the sun is least obstructed by the house. Not very few of the stems have any lateral branches. We pruned off a few branches that were growing in odd directions or tangling themselves up. As you can see, we have multiple stems growing. They look almost like a cluster of mushrooms. My family would like a hearty ovata plant to grow there. How should I prune? Should I take most of the stems down and just leave a few and hope they grow branches?

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Comments (5)

teengardener1888
13 years ago
You can do severe pruning but it would take a season or 2 for it to grow back
123Greta
13 years ago
I'm afraid I cannot offer you pruning advice on your jades, but I did want to say they are beautiful!
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puglvr1
13 years ago
I mostly grow Jades/Succulents in pots...and the very few I have planted in the ground is so small they don't need any pruning,lol...

I do however wanted to say how beautiful your Jades are...Love the pretty colors.
cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
13 years ago
Where's Josh?

I'd take two or three of the central ones out and relocate them. The roots don't grow deep - you should be able to cut the plants away from the ground with a (suggested but not necessary) square-tip shovel. That would give room for the others to shrub out.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
13 years ago
Thanks, Jeff ;-)

I agree, if you wish to move some of these trunks, it should be exceptionally easy. Otherwise, you can't really go wrong pruning a Jade in the ground - with an established root-system, these plants will push new growth much, much sooner than pruned Jades in containers.

The habit of these Jades seems to be that of a small-leaf variety. I suppose it could be the culture of these plants, but I think I've seen this type before, dinstinct from the standard fare. Good plants.

Josh