How to prune dracaena steudneri

Spring for cane reduction; lower-leaf removal any time. Cut the cane horizontally with a sharp, clean blade at your target height. Seal the cut with pruning wax or candle wax to reduce moisture loss. Remove lower leaves by pulling downward or cutting flush to the cane.

Rarely; reshape every few years if space-limited. Dracaena steudneri is a large, tree-form dracaena. Indoors it needs little pruning — remove yellowed or dead lower leaves to keep the trunk clean. If the plant outgrows its space, cut the main cane back in spring; dormant buds below the cut will sprout new growth within a few weeks.

Cut the cane horizontally with a sharp, clean blade at your target height. Seal the cut with pruning wax or candle wax to reduce moisture loss. Remove lower leaves by pulling downward or cutting flush to the cane.