You can cut just below the first Y or 8-12" up any branch. You may want to stagger your cutting doing half the plants or half the branches on a plant this year and the other half next. This allows you to have flowers as a cut branch will not flower this year. I wait after a cut until the latex has dried (a few hours to a day) and coat the cut with a brown tub and tile sealant using a caulking gun and a cheap sponge paint brush. With 250 you need the heavy equip. Also I recommend taking a white paint pen and either writing the plant name or a number that refers to a list of plants (ie. 8 = Celadine) on the branches to be cut off before cutting. Mark about 4-5 inches above where you will cut. This cuts down on the "what the hell is this plant" and allows you to cut nonstop and sort the varieties later. I probably have 25 two year old plants right now that I have no idea what they are because I was not marking but sorting by piles in my wheelbarrow when my grandchild decided to become a linebacker. Last year I marked first and all is wonderful. Lesson learned. Bill (also making tags and taping on the cutting is very neat but way too time consuming for a large number- the paint pen is great.)

I appreciate your response tdogdad - and for passing on that information. Its going to take me a while to get the job done but the sooner I get into it the better. Our plants here have a very short dormant period so I will need to get into it straight away. Cheers. Thankyou again.