There's usually nothing quite so invigorating to a plant as having its top whacked off. Cutting back encourages the growth of new foliage and makes plants bushier. More foliage increases the plant's ability to photosynthesize, which is turn contributes to a more rubust plant and increases flower production. Master gardener Paul James gives some good advice on how to shear your plants:
- Container mums which have overwintered in their pots will look great if you cut them back every few days when new growth starts. If you let them grow on their own--whether in containers or in the ground--they'll become leggy and spindly. Start by pinching the terminal growth or simply shear the entire plant. This forces foliar rather than flower growth, which makes the plant compact and bushy. No matter where you live, plan on shearing and pinching at least until the middle of July.
- Many plants respond to cutting back. In James's shade garden, you can see the flower and stalks of coral bells shooting up from the base of the plant. Once he has had time to enjoy them, he cuts them back. Blue salvia, which can be over-wintered in a pot, also needs to be cut back. Just remove the stalks of faded flowers, which will encourage new growth and more flowers. Plants tend to be healthier if you don't let the flowers go to seed. In the center of a hosta is an emerging flower stalk, and if you don't like the smell of hostas in bloom, you can cut back the flower stalks as they emerge and continue to enjoy the foliage.
- In James's veggie garden are some strawberries that are starting to develop runners. Since this is their first year in the ground, he pinches off the runners--which would produce new plants as well as most of the flowers, which in turn would produce fruit. The mother plant will then have a chance to grow strong and produce even more fruit next year. Finding the runners is easy. They grow several inches from the base of the plant outward. To remove them just snip them off near the base of the mother plant.
- Another plant that must be cut back to encourage bushy growth is basil. Begin cutting back as it begins to develop its first few sets of leaves.
- Deadheading (removing only the faded flowers from established plants) is another form of pinching and shearing; it encourages more blooms as well.
Tip for better mums:
If you live in an area where early frosts zaps your mums before they bloom, begin in late summer and cover your mums with paper sacks or cloth every afternoon, around four or five o'clock. Then remove the cover each morning. Once you start this process, and stop cutting the plants back, you can plan on having blooms galore in two to three weeks.
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