with a high variety of plants often require this kind of policing. Mass plantings of
only a couple of different species are far less likely to need the intervention.
Increase flower size or numbers
Pinching a plant will often cause it to produce more, but smaller, flowers than it
might normally produce without pinching. Removing, or disbudding, the side
buds of a plant will produce a single large flower on a long stem. If the terminal
This transplanted patch of
beebalm (Monarda didyma) was
cut back in stages to create a
layered effect and a sequence of
bloom. The flowering part of this
clump, in the back, was left
unpruned, the middle part of the
clump was pruned on the first of
May, and the front part of the
clump was pruned on the first of
May and again in mid-May.The front of this beebalm plant,
which received the most
pruning, flowered about 3 weeks
later than the other sections,
and the decline of the foliage in
the front is also delayed as
compared to the back section.introduction to PruninG 89