Hey, Jeff!
In vino veritas....great, bold work!
I really like the look of your top-dressing, too. Great subdued tones. Looks local.

A couple days ago, I took the hatchet to my Big Jade Cutting - took it from something like 30 inches, down to about 15 inches. I had determined it was time to lay into it, to take it to that next level of development. After that first cut, it gets easier.....

Josh

Josh,

And thank you. Yes, I haul the rocks out of the ravine near the house and then smash them up - they're only put through the screen twice, however.

Ya'll bored up there in the frozen northland? Step away from the jade. It's soo cute.
Sorry no advise from here, I'm not into bonsai, I'm more of a machete type pruner myself. Whack at it with the machete when it blocks the pathway.

Keep up the good work. Hauling rocks is great exercise so bonus points for that.
Tally HO!

Jeffrey wrote: "Ever notice how a few sips of the grape empowers one to practice the non-existent hyperpruning (I shan't call it bonsai) skills one doesn't know one doesn't have?

I don't need any alcohol to fuel my shears. I have a natural tendency to 'hyperprune' (what a lovely word, could easily be applied to overly exuberant plant whacking, and my mother-in-law).

It is very hard to make that first cut, but once you get going, the hardest thing is knowing when to stop. One cut leads to another, until very soon, there is nothing left to cut. I don't think you're done yet, Jeffrey.

Brad

Beach - are you ribbing Jeff about the good ol' days of the Jade-gone-wild he enjoyed in his yard? (That wall-o-Jade was in your yard, wasn't it Jeff?) You southern folk got it so good!

Jeff, your Jade looks like it's on its way to being a bushy fella. I've been known to whack them until there are nothing but leafless branches. Had one (of the sports) that got beat up in a bad wind/hail storm in June 2008. After two months, it looked like this...
{{gwi:623609}}
By this last May, it had filled in nicely...
{{gwi:557900}}
I don't have a current photo, but it's looking pretty great! I love the way the trunk thickens with each serious pruning.

I have two big standard Jades that are in dire need of a serious pruning that I plan to whack at as soon as they're done flowering. And I agree with Josh - I'm a little nervous (even after all the pruning I've done) the first few cuts, but it does get easier. The fun part is waiting to see those cute little leaves emerging from those tough barky branches!

Denise in Omaha

Drink and prune...
doesn't sound as serious and "drink and dial"!
I don't know anything about bonsai so I got a book and I still don't know anything about bonsai.

Great Hack jobs everyone!! I too am a believer in severe Jade pruning, and have been known to "whack" a few of them! Its fun watching them grow into more compact tree like plants.

Nice pics!!

All I know about bonsai is that I have to water those little tiny trees far too much. BF is the bonsai nut in the family. I do look at plants differently now, plants I wouldn't look at twice I'm examing trunks thinking, that would make a good bonsai. I now appreciate all the hard work that goes into them and he's becoming a fan of cacti/succulents and other related plants.

Hyperprune-my mother-in-law ROFLMAO!!!! Could describe my ex-mil too.

I've no room to talk on chopping up plants. I'll get a wild hair and go chop something almost to the ground.

Tally HO!

Brad,

I haven't felt necessary to act thusly towards my MIL, mostly.

Yes, there are nubbins, scraps and varlet-looking remnants left to remove, but I had to keep some leafery to keep some folks happy some of the time.

But if I was to be cutting more....I'm going to have to look at this again.

Denise,

Each time I cut, I think of the 30-lb. pieces of trunk that I tossed away in a number of times when I was reducing the GWOJWKL's relatives in order to make growing room for other plants - I think there were four or five other shrubs that I got rid of in the dumpster. A few small barrel-looking trunks would be nice to practice on.

Thought maybe you'd taken up smoking till I saw the tail end of the subject! Looks like you have the beginnings of a "hyper" plant in the making....Nice!

Remember what Sheryl Crow says "The first cut is the deepest". They were actually playing that in the operating room when I had my hip replacement done! ;)

I'm limiting my whackage to once a year. Some I think I'm going to let grow a bit. I don't know...I guess it doesn't really matter either way, does it?