Lesson 5
Pruning, pinching and dead-heading
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Growing image…
Pruning feels brutal at first and then becomes second nature. The principle: cutting back stimulates branching and growth lower down. A plant that's pinched back at the tip becomes bushy.
Bigger pruning cuts
- 1Hard prune lavender, rosemary, sage in late spring — never into bare wood.
- 2Tomato side shoots removed when they appear at leaf axils — keep the plant single-stem and productive.
- 3Cut back perennial herbs by a third after flowering — fresh growth, fresh harvest.
Three small cuts every day
- Pinch the tip of basil at six leaves — it becomes a bush, not a stick.
- Dead-head sweet peas, calendula, cosmos — flowers keep coming if seeds don't form.
- Remove yellowing or damaged leaves the moment you see them — energy goes to healthy growth.