That is Portulacaria afra, also know as Elephant Bush, or Elephant's Food Bush. That is truly an amazing specimen! It's unlikely they would even reach that size in habitat, since as the common name betrays, they are a popular food source for a variety of animals. Normally, they are grazed on so heavily that the end up spreading much more laterally than vertically.

I really don't know what to tell you about pruning. Normally, with small P afra, you can do whatever you want to it. So much in fact that is another species I consider to be a "toy." Cut it, abuse it, do all sorts of strange things and you still have a fun plant! However, some of those branches are really, really big. I would be afraid that cutting such a large branch would lead to rapid water loss. Then again, a plant of that size could probably go for ages without any water at all, so who cares if it loses some through a cut branch.

Given that, here is what I'd do if it were mine: Just dive in and start cutting! Make it look how you want, keeping in mind future growth. Just to be safe, I would use something like rooting powder or portland cement to help speed the callousing of whatever major branches you cut. Apply the powder to the branch right after you cut it, and it will help seal the wound faster to retain moisture and prevent rot. I'd also have a bunch of soil ready for the gobs and gobs of cuttings you'll end up with!

If you decide to completely remove any of the really large trunks, let me know! I might just have to drive down from LA and rescue it!

Thanks a bunch for putting up those pictures. Truly an amazing set of plants!!!

OH MY GOSH! The jealousy is pulsing through me right now. Ditto on above. If your weather is dry right now, I doubt you'd have any trouble with any disease on the cut parts and they'd callous quickly. I don't know about rooting hormone, but I usually use a fungicide powder. Most rooting hormones have fungicide in them. I would think you could go up as high as you wanted to go. Please post follow up pics. You may need a fine saw to get the bigger branches off though. There are two different theories about how to cut something like that. If you cut about an inch away from the branch, the piece left on would rot and fall off (at least it does on a smaller version). Others would say, if you want a smooth trunk, you would cut close to the trunk and actually scoop out a little of the flesh of the main trunk so that when it heals over and forms the bark it will be smooth. If you cut it flush with the trunk and don't carve an indent in it, most trees will callous over and leave a knot on the tree. Sometimes that gives it character though. These are all bonsai theories, but I would think it would hold true of a larger tree as well. Whatever you do, please post follow up pics. I can't wait to see what happens.

I don't know if you have enough friends or an e-Bay account but you could make a small fortune on these cuttings. Don't sell them like others, for a fortune, that is. I paid $18 for an 18 inch cutting with a 1 1/2 inch diameter trunk. Many people would fiend over that stuff, especially for bonsai enthusiast. I'd buy one, that's for sure.

I only suggested rooting powder because it almost always has a fungicide and is easier to find than just fungicide powder. The hormones do basically nothing in succulents anyway, so no worries there. Regardless, straight fungicide powder would really be the best choice. The portland cement trick is something I learned from a really good bonsai book. It has worked well for me in the past, and results in an aged looked for the wound.

I'd also like to strongly encourage some follow-up pics!

Where do you get portland cement? Is it just the powdered stuff that you mix with water? I use cut paste to help heal wounds on my bonsai trees, but it is extremely messy. If I could find something that I could just dust on, I'd love it. I wan't knocking the use of the rooting hormone. I knew it had a fungicide, I just never thought to use it in the same way. I have a garden center here that carries just a fungicide. On some things, not succulents, I know people who use rooting hormone to try and get surface and aerial roots on their bonsai. I can't see it working on surface roots as they need to age and grow in the soil to get mature looking (IMO), but I guees it might work on aerial roots (not something typically done on Portalucaria Afra though!) ;0)

Tanyag: The book I thought I was quoting, in fact only talks about lime sulfur. If you are familiar with jin and shari techniques, you may already be familiar with it. Ultimately, lime sulfur is an extremely potent fungicide. It also severely bleaches the wood, is pretty nasty to work with and doesn't protect the cambium layer so bark will never return to the damadged area. "Master Bonsai Class" a book by Craig Coussins has a good discussion. As for portland cement... That is the very fine gray powder you mix with aggregate (gravel, rocks, etc) to make concrete. You can buy 50lbs bags at any hardware store for only a few dollars, but that is just way, way, way more than you'll ever use. Instead, I'd recommend bringing a small plastic baggy with you to the hardware store and asking the clerk if you can have a cup from the broken bag that will inevitably be sitting there. Either that or go to a construction site and do the same (thats what I did). I distinctly remember reading about its use as a fungicide/general wound treatment somewhere... I can attest to its success with C ovata, P. afra, P. suandersii, and a few Fouquieria by just dabbing the dry cement on the wound. After some time, it leaves more natural but still distinct scar, that to me adds charecter. I don't think it is as "healing" as the paste you mentioned, but it isn't as harsh as lime sulfur either. Without a solid reference to point you to, I'd advise experimenting before using it on precious bonsai.

Amanaskr, when you prune the jade is there ayway to get some cuttings Email me at skipperdeer@aol.com

Sorry about the delay - didn't get the email notices I was expecting. I'm new to this forum - does that functionality work here? I turned it on.

Yes! Forums are the best. Thanks joscience and tanyag. I am glad to know the species and, with your encouragement, I will play the tin man. Maybe I'll just try one to start, give it two weeks to see what happens.

We recently bought some powdered mortar to repair some bricks. I don't have the bag here, but do you think that will do the same thing as portland cement? For all I know, it IS portland cement. Jillian bought it - I just mixed and repaired some brick. I'll take a look.

Not sure exactly when we will get to this, but I will take photos and follow up.

I don't see an option for Private Messages. If you go to my web site and send an email, we can make arrangements for some clippings to be shipped (when I get to it). Please use JADE in the subject line.

http://manskerconsulting.com/main/contact.php

Amanskey: No, the "email follow-up" option has never worked for me. You get what you pay for!

The mortar is probably like 25% cement, and 75% filler (sand, etc). It will work just fine. The whole point is to quickly coagulate the juice that comes out of the freshly cut branch to prevent excess moisture loss, just like the styptic pencil/powder we use to stop the bleeding from shaving nicks. The lime in the the cement also messes around with the local chemistry to make the cut less hospitable to fungi, bacteria, and other nasties. In reality, the dry conditions that tanyag pointed out will probably be good enough to prevent infection.

Good luck, and please do report back (with pics)! It sounds like a really fun project.

I have one of these succulants but very small but it's not Jade. But lopping off the bottom branches and making more of a tree trunk and than cutting back the upper portion giving you enough plants for the whole world but it comes back so easily and forms a great bonsai form and than you can plant other shade type succulants underneath. I'm in Penasquitos if you want to see my Jade if your in the area. debbysunshine@hotmail.com

Just a tip for you guys that post your e-mail addys. Not a good idea. Spammers have programs that scan the millions of web-pages for addresses. That's how they get them. If you have to post your address, it's better if you do it this way. Johndoe at hotmail dot com.