Laura:

Jacarandas naturally grow as large shrubs and become trees only with training (removing all lateral branching) or with extreme age.

And a good rule of thumb when planting ANY tree is to NOT prune the first year (and maybe mininmally, if at all, the second year). Let the tree establish itself. Leave the photosynthetic material (leaves) on the tree above ground so that they can make food for the tree below ground (roots).

Once established (1-2 years), prune only for minimal aesthetic purposes.

Of course, you'll always prune off broken, dead, or dying branches as well as, eventually, crossing branches or anything that reaches beyond where you want it to reach. And if you live in a slightly windy area, also prune the tree to be more open to allow wind to blow through.

Joe

Mine died back a bit last year... same as pruning... no suckering what so ever.

Hi Laura,

Sorry about the late post....I have also noticed in my area that during the windy season jacaranda trees are especially subject to broken branches. It seems to me that the tree will be stronger with a single trained trunk. That's just my opinion. But the trees certainly are stunning, aren't they?
Janice

I planted a three trunk Jacaranda in 1995 from a 15" box. One trunk was weak and was removed a few years later. The tree is about 25 ft. tall and spreads about 20 ft. I have it trimmed and laced every year and it is growing strong and beautiful in Clairemont area of San Diego.