Indoor Gardening and Houseplants: What's blooming?, 1 by tapla

tapla wrote:
Here is the same plant. I took both photos just a few minutes ago. You can see where the leader was cut, about 1-1/2 inch above the soil. From the lateral branches that always grow opposite, I used the one closest to vertical as the new top, and the one closest to horizontal as the first branch. I kept the branch pruned (so it didn't get as fat as the trunk & look funny) and let the new top grow free. I chopped it again, where the right branch emerges from the trunk & kept the more vertical as the top & the horizontal as the branch. The plant is too 1 dimensional & lacks a back branch for depth, so I will allow the right branch at the top to grow freely. I'll wait until a dormant bud begins growing under the point where the left top branch meets the trunk, then I will remove the near vertical left top branch in favor of the horizontal new branch that will appear. It sounds complicated at first, but it's not. Prune the stuff (except for the trunk) that grows upward & keep the stuff that grows horizontally. When what you kept doesn't look right - remove it.

Coleus and some of the other woody perennials are a very good way to learn pruning techniques that apply not only to bonsai, but to your other woody garden and landscape plants, too.

Al