How to Trim Dwarf Schefflera

Clip off any dead, irregular or diseased leaves on the dwarf schefflera. Some leaves may readily snap off with your fingers, but the pruners make it easy work. Make the cut on leaves at the base of the leaf petiole stem, just above its attachment on the main branch.

Trim back branch tips with bypass or hand pruners to create a balanced, rounded plant. Expect some branches to grow faster or jut up higher than others, especially those with access to more or brighter light. Make the branch tip cuts 1/4 to 1/3 inch above a lower leaf. Watch where the pruners' cutting blades are to avoid accidentally cutting off healthy leaves as you tip prune.

Prune out crossing or rubbing branches in the interior structure of the shrub in late winter to early spring. Inward-growing branches spoil the plant's symmetry and block air and light from freely penetrating the plant, limiting photosynthesis on lower leaves and branches. Trim rubbing branches so that only the healthier branch remains and the rubbing wound no longer occurs.

Rejuvenate a dwarf schefflera in late winter or early spring with a harsher pruner to encourage new shoots and a bushier silhouette. Cut back all branches at staggered heights that are 25 percent to 50 percent their original heights. By late spring, multiple shoots with dense, fresh-looking leaves sprout from just under each stems's pruning wound. Trim these shoots as needed to maintain the even shape of the schefflera.