Well, it’s time for another plant-related post! Because I love to post about plants so much, I’ve decided to also create a plants & garden category on the site. In this post, I’m going to show you how I trimmed my overgrown umbrella tree just in time for spring.
I always got compliments on how big my umbrella tree was, but it just wasn’t growing how I really wanted it to. Rather than growing straight up, like a tree, my umbrella tree was growing straight out from the sides.
Pruning is the best solution to fixing a leggy plant. By removing those leggy branches on the side, it gives the branches in the middle the boost they need to grow upwards.
My Umbrella Tree Before Pruning
My apologies in advance for the horrible photo quality! I decided to prune my umbrella tree at night with horrible lighting. You can really see how leggy it had gotten, though. Some of the branches were even bent and growing straight out to the sides!
Oh, it was just ginormous! The other plants on the table weren’t even able to get much light during the day, because the umbrella tree towered over all of them.
My Umbrella Tree After Pruning
It’s crazy how much better my umbrella tree looks after being pruned. It’s like a whole new plant! Definitely something that needed to be done. I’m hoping the middle branches will start to grow taller now.
I would have trimmed the branches on the sides further down, but it would have been so tiny! So, I decided to leave them in the hopes that it will fill out on its own. There is a lot of new growth in the middle of the plant, so things are looking good so far!
Tips on Pruning Umbrella Trees:
- Umbrella trees naturally grow very large, because they are just that…trees! In many cases, they will need to be pruned when kept indoors because they tend to grow so large.
- To help the plant grow upwards, as with pruning any plant, it is important to trim any branches that are growing straight out the sides. If given adequate sunlight, the plant should begin to grow straight upwards on its own.
- Make sure to have good sanitized pruning sheers on-hand, because the branches of umbrella trees tend to be pretty strong and thick.
Your umbrella tree looks great!
Thank you!
I had an umbrella plant for many years, but it died last year. Perhaps I should have given it a prune before that happened
Oh that’s too bad, I’m sorry to hear that!