How to Pinch Back Flowers

Pinch back annual flowers, vegetables, herbs and late-blooming perennials, such as chrysanthemums and asters, and you'll help plants produce more flowers - and make them fuller and denser.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Begin pinching transplants when you set them into the garden. For plants already in place, start when they're 2 to 4 inches tall and have several sets of leaves.

2. Pinch off the tip of the central shoot. New side branches will quickly develop.

3. Pinch off the growing tip of each new branch when it's about 6 inches long.

4. Continue until you're pleased with the form of annual flowers, vegetables and herbs. Stop pinching perennials by mid-July to allow the plants to produce buds.