Monthly Tip

Pinching your flowers and herbs is a way of pruning them with nothing more than your fingertips. Removing the new tender growth at the end of a stem stimulates branching, encourages more flowers, and keeps your garden blooming longer. Follow a stem tip down to the first or second leaf node (where leaves join the stem) and pinch it off just above that node. Two new stems will grow beneath the pinch, resulting in a bushier plant. Early spring—before flower buds form—is the ideal time to pinch. But not all plants should be pinched. In particular, don’t pinch flowers that produce only one flower per stem.

 

More Information: Pinching Flowers and Herbs