Leaves can be physically damaged in shipping and in your home or due to other factors such as curious pets, sunburn, low humidity, pests and infections. Typically a damaged leaf won't heal, so in most cases it is best to remove it from the plant, so that your plant can focus its energy on its new growth.

It's important to remember that while plants can live a very long time, individual leaves on your plant do not live forever, and some leaf shedding is normal as your plant lives its life in your home and this isn't usually a cause for concern.

Plants will naturally shed older leaves as new ones are grown, so if a few leaves are yellowing or browning, don't panic!

You can remove any yellow or brown leaves using clean, sharp scissors.

Applies to:

Palms, Snake Plants, Dracaenas , Dragon Trees

If just the tip of a leaf is damaged, you don't need to remove those leaves entirely. You can trim off just the damaged part of the leaf.

Applies to:

Monstera, Anthuriums, Calatheas, Croton Mammy, Ferns, Aglaonema

Most plants that grow leaves individually, and not in bunches. Trim the leaf or stem as close to the soil as possible.

Applies to: All vining plants

Hoya, (many) Philodendrons, Pothos, Lipstick Plant, or plants with multiple leaves on a stem such as ZZ Plants, if just individual leaves are damaged.

For this species, the leaves grow off the main vine. You can either remove the individual leaves, or remove part of the main vine if you'd like to shorten it. When you cut the main vine, it will continue growing over time, and so anytime it gets too long for your space, you can trim it.

Applies to:

All Fig/Ficus Varieties and Rubber Tree

When you're pruning off the leaves, just be careful not to touch the sap! It's really sticky and can cause mild skin irritation if you're allergic to latex since it contains compounds similar to latex. Once you prune the leaves, it's best to gently wipe off the sap using a paper towel or cloth. That way, it won't accidentally touch your skin or drip onto the floor.

Palms, Dracaenas, Dragon Trees, where the whole leaf is damaged: trim lead back to stem/trunk

These both grow multiple leaves and branches from their stems, and trimming can be as follows:

Use clean, sharp scissors to cut off any damaged leaves and their stem to about 1/2" from the nearest Y branch, or if it has no Y branch, 1/2" from the trunk.

If only one leaf on a stem is damaged, sometimes you can remove just the one leaf and leave the rest, but don't be shocked or disappointed if you go to remove the leaves and the whole stem wants to fall.

Applies to: All plants with flowers.

Anthurium, Lipstick Plant, etc.

Our flowering plants all put out new stems with their flowers and the whole stem and flower should be trimmed back as close to the main plant or soil as possible.

Dead or dying flowers should be removed regularly - leaving them can cause the plant stress or slow their growth!

The White Bird of Paradise naturally splits its leaves as it matures, so it's a little more prone to that during shipping. For this plant, you'll only want to remove leaves that have pieces of the leaf missing, not just splits in the leaves, since those are normal.​ Trim them as close to the main stems or soil as possible.