Beginner Gardening: How do you prune a schefflera (umbrella plant)?, 1 by ferlr

ferlr wrote:
Can someone answer a few questions for me? I have a 5 year old scheff "Helen" whom I miraculously managed not to kill. I never knew they could be pruned until recently when my husband and I were discussing where we were going to place her when we brought her back in for the winter, as she summers outside, and has gotten too large for her winter spot.
Her "mother" branch is about 4-5' (heavily leaned over??) from the floor and of that prob. 3' of woodsy branch with approximately 3 daughter branches (I am not home with her now). She is currently in a pot about 36" across and is very wide. I want her to be full, but tall and somewhat narrow as my winter sunlight area is not that large. So my questions are:

1. When should I prune her? If not now, how well do they travel and/or take to moving around a lot? I could take her to one of my offices, but I am hardly ever there, or can move her around inside my home, but she is SO large my husband would prolly throw a hissy and his back out.
2. Can I prune IN (to take some leaves off) vs. DOWN?
3. What is the best method to plant cuttings?
3. Can I stake the branch that’s leaning as a temp measure?

Thanks for any and all help. I have only ever kept a violet and this schefflera alive and don't want to ruin my record with Helen!