How to prune elephant bush

Spring through early summer (active growing season); avoid pruning in winter. Use clean, sharp scissors or pruning shears to cut stems back to a node or branching point. For bonsai training, remove crossing branches and shorten long stems by up to one-third. Let cut ends callous for a day before watering. Trimmings root easily as cuttings.

Light shaping 1–2 times per year; remove stray stems as needed. Elephant bush is a vigorous succulent shrub that takes pruning well and actually benefits from it. Trim to maintain the desired shape, encourage branching, and remove leggy or overcrowded growth. It is one of the few succulents where regular light shaping is genuinely useful rather than just removing dead material.

Use clean, sharp scissors or pruning shears to cut stems back to a node or branching point. For bonsai training, remove crossing branches and shorten long stems by up to one-third. Let cut ends callous for a day before watering. Trimmings root easily as cuttings.