How to Trim and Prune Plumeria

Put on disposable gloves, such as surgical latex gloves, before pruning plumeria plants. The plant produces a latex sap that contains toxins that may cause skin rashes in people with sensitive skin. Long sleeves are recommended if you are trimming a small tree plumeria, as dripping sap will fall from upper branches that were cut.

Remove dead or rotting, soft-tissued parts of the plumeria any time of year, but ideally during a season that isn't rainy and high in humidity. Make the pruning cut with a hand pruners -- or loppers if the branch is 3/4 inch to 1 1/2 inches in diameter -- below the dead or rotting area. Feel the branch and make the cut into firm wood about 4 to 6 inches below the rotting area or shriveled dead tissues. A hand-held pruning saw is best if cutting into a main trunk.

Slice the sharp cutting blades of the pruners at a slight angle across the plumeria stem, such as 30 to 45 degrees. Immediately wipe off the white latex milk from the cutting blades with a paper towel. Copious latex oozes from the plant at the wound, but this dries and seals the wound within a couple hours. You don't have to wipe the wound.

Trim off old flower clusters on branch tips in summer to tidy the plumeria. Cut the base of the flower stalk with hand pruners. Milky latex drips from the wound for several minutes but soon coagulates and stops. Do not accidentally break leaves or make other cuts, as the dripping latex flows downward over leaves and flowers lower on the plumeria.

Promote branching on the plumeria by cutting into any firm, tan to brown stem or trunk in late spring to early summer. Within six weeks after decapitating a branch or trunk, new branches sprout from just below the callused cut. Often it's three sprouts, and you may thin them as needed to train the plant with branches growing a certain direction.

Clip away disfigured leaves as needed during the growing season. Sap bleeds and drips onto lower leaves. Gently spray the leaves with water from a hose within 10 minutes to remove latex and prevent blackened streaks. You do not need to trim away dead, yellowing leaves; they naturally drop off and are easily picked up from the ground to compost.